Issue - meetings

To receive a report providing a summary and update of completed or ongoing complaints received regarding alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct under the Localism Act 2011 since the start of the year.

The Committee received a report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) which provided a summary and update of completed or ongoing complaints received regarding alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct under the Localism Act 2011 since the start of the year.

The Elections & Democratic Services Manager set out the report, making particular reference to case number 25/67. A report published by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGO), resulting in an apology which was issued to the complainant, some further training for statutory officers undertaken, and a slight tweak to the Monitoring Officer protocol. The tweak did not dilute down the purpose of the protocol, and ultimately it was the Council’s responsibility to maintain high standards of Code of Conduct for Town/Parish Council’s, but equally the onus was also on them to uphold these high standards.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Elections & Democratic Services Manager advised that in this case, the matter was referred to the Council without investigation by the respective body. Generally, if complaints were received Parish & Town Councils were encouraged to see if matters could be resolved locally, but in this instance it was referred to the Council and required further investigation.

In relation to the table at 3.1 in the report, information regarding how long investigations had been ongoing was something that could incorporated in future.

Furthermore, information around the documented process for complaints was detailed in the Constitution which set out the procedure expected to be followed.

Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

that the Committee noted the progress of any outstanding Code of Conduct complaints and the conclusion of cases resolved to date.