Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ben Green and Penny Milnes.

There were no declarations of interests.

Held on 12 March 2025.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 March 2025 were agreed as a correct record.

To provide the Standards Committee with an overview of Councillor Code of Conduct complaints received and processed in 2024/2025 (from the end of March 2025), as well as those received to date for the 2025/2026 municipal year.

Members considered an overview of Code of Conduct complaints, presented by the Director of Law and Governance (and Monitoring Officer).

Since the departure of the previous full-time Monitoring Officer, there had been two interim Monitoring Officer appointments, both of a part-time nature, which had led to a backlog in processing Code of Conduct complaints.

Complaints against district councillors

During the ‘relevant period’ (12 March 2025 to 27 February 2026) there had been 46 Code of Conduct complaints received; 33 against district councillors, and 13 against parish or town councillors.

Of the complaints against district councillors, the following allegations were recorded:

-       9 failed to clearly identify how the Member had allegedly breached the code of conduct.

-       13 allegations in relation to ‘Disrepute’

-       7 allegations in relation to ‘Respect’

-       3 allegations in relation to ‘Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination’

-       4 allegations in relation to ‘Use of Position’

-       4 allegations in relation to ‘Interests’

-       2 allegations in relation to ‘Impartiality of Officers’

-       1 allegation in relation to ‘Complying with the Code of Conduct’

Notably, 27% of complaints against district councillors had failed to identify which part of the Code of Conduct had been breached. 42% of complaints received had been submitted by fellow district councillors (when broken down further, these complaints had come from 7 district councillors overall, with 4 from one member alone), 6% submitted by officers and the remainder submitted by members of the public (although this ‘remainder’ changed slightly when relatives of Councillors were factored in).

16 complaints had not progressed past the assessment stage of the process. This was due to several factors, including (but not limited to) the complaint being withdrawn, lack of jurisdiction, lack of evidence, or not being in the public interest. That left 17 complaints still being considered; 11 were ongoing, 3 had progressed to the formal investigation stage, and 3 were paused, pending a Police investigation.

The 33 complaints related to 19 different councillors, with 6 separate incidents against 1 member.

Complaints against Parish/town councillors

During the ‘Relevant Period’, 13 complaints were received against Parish and Town Councillors in the South Kesteven district. 46% of complaints received failed to clearly identify which part of the Code of Conduct had allegedly been breached. The remaining 54% of complaints were in relation to alleged ‘disrepute’, (lack of) ‘respect’, or ‘interests’.

69% of these complaints have been submitted by the public, 23% from town or parish council members, and 8% from the clerks of these committees.

The following points were highlighted during debate:

·       There was a backlog of complaints, particularly concerning town and parish councillors. External investigators were being used in some instances.

·       Failure to identify which section of the Code of Conduct (‘the Code’) was breached was causing a strain in the system. It was hoped that this issue could be tackled by changing the way in which complaints were submitted. The process needed to be more prescriptive so that the reasons for the complaint were clear; a great  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The following issues were raised under Any Other Business:

·       The Chairman referred to the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting in March 2025, where it had been agreed to organise a workshop for Committee members to discuss revisions to the complaints handling process.

All members of the Standards Committee were required to undertake annual training to take part in the Committee’s proceedings, so it may be worthwhile exploring a workshop at the same time as the mandatory training (which would take place in Summer 2026). The Monitoring Officer also suggested exploring/better utilising a ‘pre-assessment’ stage which could more efficiently filter out incorrect or inappropriate complaints.

·       The use of a mediator for complaints was suggested; this was not a role that the Monitoring Officer had encountered at previous authorities. The onus needed to be on members deciding whether they wanted to continue with their complaint. There was also a role for political groups to play; group leaders and deputy group leaders were a good point of contact to resolve complaints. The preference was always for Members to mediate disputes amongst themselves to a satisfactory conclusion (if possible and appropriate to do so) prior to engaging the Code of Conduct process.

·       The backlog of complaints was raised as an issue, and whether the Monitoring Officer felt he had capacity and resource to clear this. This all depended on the volume of complaints that were received in the coming months. If there wasn’t an influx of complaints, then it was hoped it would be possible to clear the backlog.

·       The government had undertaken a survey of the standards and conduct framework; a report was due in November 2026 that brought together the results of the survey. The Chairman was happy to circulate the key points to the Committee.

The meeting closed at 11:44am.