Agenda and minutes

In welcoming Members and officers to the meeting, the Chairman commented on the sad news of the passing of former Councillor Brenda Sumner. All present stood for a minute’s silence.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Councillor Zoe Lane

Councillor Vanessa Smith

Councillor Lee Steptoe

Councillor Tim Harrison substituted for Councillor Vanessa Smith.

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

To provide the Standards Committee with an overview of Councillor Code of Conduct complaints received and processed for this municipal year, to date.

To formally report to the Standards Committee the outcome of a formal investigation relating to a complaint against a District Councillor.

Members considered an overview of Councillor Code of Conduct complaints received and processed for the municipal year to date. They also considered the outcome of a formal investigation relating to a complaint against a District Councillor.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report and reminded Members that the new procedure for Code of Conduct complaints, as agreed by Standards Committee in September 2023, was now being followed. Complaints were subjected to an initial two-stage assessment process; Stage 1 would assess whether the Councillor was acting in an official capacity and establish whether the Code of Conduct was engaged. Stage 2 assessed the complaint against set criteria as outlined in the procedure; the Monitoring Officer would consult  with both Independent Persons before making a decision as to whether the complaint would proceed to a formal investigation.

Since 4 May 2023 16 complaints had been received against District Councillors. In addition, 22 further complaints had been received since Saturday 2 March 2024 – these 22 were open and active. Further information was given by the Monitoring Officer on the 16 complaints outlined at Table 1 in the report:

·       19 May - an alleged inappropriate scrutiny of a Register of Interest and a threat to go to the press. No breach.

·       5 June – social media posts on the subject of transgender issues. The subject Councillor was not acting in an official  capacity and therefore the Code was not engaged.

·       16 June – 4 complaints against 4 District Councillors from a Lincolnshire County Councillor who felt they should have been consulted on an issue. No breach.

·       20 June – 2 complaints, a breach of the Code on the publication of exempt information at a Town Council. An apology was issued in both cases. Breach of the Code, but no further action necessary.

·       2 September – No response from a local Member to an email. No breach.

·       1 November – 2 complaints about attendance by Councillors at a pro-Palestinian rally. The subject Councillors were not acting in an official capacity. No breach.

·       23 November – Formal investigation and a breach of the Code.

·       1 December – Councillor being accused of not representing constituents and misleading on planning issues. No breach.

·       30 January – comments at Full Council. Still being assessed.

·       2 February – disrespectful comments on Facebook. No breach.

·       13 Feb – perceived conflict of interest based on member being appointed to Outside Body. That Councillor had received a large volume of correspondence and this dealt with as a vexatious complaint. No breach.

The following points were highlighted during debate on Table 1 of the report:

·       The number of complaints received over the weekend of 2 March was unprecedented.  The 22 complaints had been received from 4 Councillors and one member of the public. Any additional support for investigating Code of Conduct complaints should they proceed to formal investigation may be  provided by Legal Services Lincolnshire (LSL) should the volume be unmanageable for the Monitoring Officer and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Monitoring Officer reported that all 56 Members had now received their Code of Conduct training. There would be annual refresher training for the Code of Conduct.

An item was to be considered by Governance and Audit Committee on 13 March 2024 recommending that certain training sessions were made ‘mandatory’.

Members confirmed that the ideal scenario would be a range of different options for the delivery of training, as well as the option to train in the evening as well as the daytime. If certain training sessions, such as PREVENT and safeguarding were to be made mandatory, it would bring the Council in line with areas such as the Police and schools.

There was no other business.