Agenda item

The Committee considered the report of the Monitoring Officer which recommended some immediate changes to the Council’s Arrangements for Dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints to enable complaints which were not deemed valid to be rejected before initial assessment. In addition, the report recommended that Members establish a Working Group to do a wider review of the arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints to enable the effective management of complaints.  It was also proposed that the Working Group would review the Member/Officer Protocol, the Social Media Protocol for Members and proposals for a Member Development Plan. 

The report detailed the rationale to the proposal to review the current arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints and the recommendation to establish a Working Group to review the Member/Officer Protocol, the Social Media Protocol for Members and proposals for a Member Development Plan. 

In considering the proposed immediate amendment to the Code of Conduct Complaints process, a Member expressed concern as to the proposal not to inform the subject member being complained about when a complaint had been deemed not valid and that this be revised to ensure they were told.  He requested that the Committee receive future reports providing details of numbers and trends of complaints made, including those deemed valid and not valid with the rationale for this being that it would inform requests for training.  In response the Monitoring Officer advised that in some circumstances there was no subject Member, for example if a complaint had been made about a parish clerk and that the proposal could be amended to include a degree of flexibility for the Monitoring Officer. 

In relation to the Government’s response to the consultation on changes to the Standards regime, a Member referred to the powers being given to authorities to suspend elected members for a maximum of 6 months etc. (paragraph 1.7 – bullet point 5).  He suggested that Officers give consideration to delegate this function to either the whole Council or a specific Committee.  The Member also suggested that when a submitted complaint led to a counter-complaint, it would be useful to see them merged and defined as a single complaint.  He noted that these were usually the same subject matter and should have a single assessment. 

Members agreed that they would wish to see future reports containing numbers and trends of complaints submitted; the number submitted by the same person; whether any were classed as vexatious; the number in relation to district and parish. 

In relation to Code of Conduct training, a Member queried whether this would be a mandatory requirement.  In response, the Monitoring Officer advised that this could be looked at within the proposed Working Group.  It was suggested that the training be undertaken online as this removes the need for Members to attend in person.  It was however, acknowledged that not all Members were able to undertake online training and that separate provision would need to be made for them. 

In closing the debate, the Chair advised that the membership of the Working Group would be set after the meeting due to the absence of some Committee Members.

AGREED          that the Governance, General Purposes & LGR Committee:

a)     approve the Monitoring Officer to make the proposed amendments to the Arrangements for Dealing with Code of Conduct complaints as detailed within this report at para 1.5 with immediate effect, having considered the Members’ comments as detailed above;

b)     approve the establishment of a cross-party Working Group, to support a wider review of the Council’s Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints, the Member/Officer Protocol, Social Media Protocol for Members and proposals for a Member Development Plan; and

c)     subject to the approval of b), the Chair to determine the membership of the Working Group after the meeting with a recommended membership of up to six Members.