Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ashley Baxter.

Councillor Graham Jeal substituted for Councillor Peter Stephens.

There were none.

Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2024 were AGREED as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer presented the report. The report provided the Standards Committee with an update on the complaints submitted against District Councillors and Parish/Town Councillors for the 2023/24 municipal year. It also reported on those complaints received since 23 May 2024 (the date of the Council’s Annual Meeting), which commenced the 2024/25 municipal year.

Appendix A set out the number of complaints received against District Councillors for 2023/24 municipal year, whereby 63 individual complaints were submitted in that period.

Taking into account feedback from the previous meeting, more information had been provided around reasons for a complaint. These included parts of the Code of Conduct that were allegedly breached and a brief overview of what the complaint consisted of, who the complaint was submitted from and the outcome of the complaint. 

The Council’s complaint procedure was a three-stage process. Every complaint received was shared with the Independent Person who would then provide their views on the complaint made.

The first stage of the complaint assessment process was a jurisdictional test to assess whether or not the Councillor was acting within their capacity as an Elected Member or whether they were still an active Councillor. This test would determine whether the complaint would be passed onto the next stage of the complaints procedure.

The second stage of the process was an assessment stage, where the complaint would be assessed against criteria set out in the Council’s procedure. This stage would analyse any sufficient evidence, alternative actions taken, whether consideration should be given to a Councillor’s right to freedom of speech and whether the threshold for robust political debate came into consideration.

The extent of seriousness of the complaint would be assessed on whether it was malicious, vexatious, politically motivated, ‘tit-for-tat’ or whether it was within the public interest to take any further action and whether further action could warrant the available sanctions imposed.

At this point in the process, a decision notice would be issued in consultation with the Independent Persons as to whether any further action would be necessary, or the complaint could be closed via an informal resolution or no action required.

If a complaint warranted further investigation, a referral for a formal investigation would take place. At present, a number of complaints were currently being formally investigated by Wilkin Chapman on behalf of the Monitoring Officer.

Appendix B provided information around complaints for Parish and Town Councillors that were received for the 2023/24 municipal year. The total number of individual complaints was 21, there had not been any formal complaints submitted against Parish and Town Councillors.

One complaint related to a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest which had been referred to the Police for investigation due to it potentially constituting a criminal offence under the Localism Act 2011.

A verbal update was provided that one formal complaint against a District Councillor had been received on 11 September 2024, meaning this was the first complaint for the 2024/25 municipal year. This complaint had been submitted by a member of the public.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

A verbal update on training from the Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer provided an update on mandatory training that all Members of the Standards Committee were required to undertake. There was one Member who was due to receive training the following day, however, all other Members of the Committee had completed their training.

Furthermore, other non-Committee Members had received the training in order to be able to substitute on the Committee. 

In accordance with a resolution at Full Council, it was mandatory for Members to undertake Code of Conduct training within a six month period in order to continue to sit on Committees. Code of Conduct training sessions had been scheduled since the Annual Meeting held on 23 May 2024 and there were currently five of the 56 Councillors that had not booked onto this training.

The Chairman suggested further training for Members in relation to responsible social media use.

The Vice-Chairman queried whether Police involvement in social media use training would be beneficial to educate Members about the potential consequences of how social media posts could escalate.

The Monitoring Officer acknowledged this, noting that he was considering a social media protocol alongside the Council’s Code of Conduct, as adopted by other Local Authorities.

A query was raised on whether such social media training could be made mandatory or just advisory, given the conflicts that this could create with the Freedom of Speech principle.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that social media training would solely be regarding posts made under their official capacity as a Councillor. This would not restrict any Members personal social media use outside of their Councillor responsibilities. Any additional mandatory training would require approval by Full Council.

It was raised that social media use was included within the Code of Conduct itself and was covered as part of the Code of Conduct training, therefore the discussion was around how to make social media use more comprehensive within the Code of Conduct.

One Member queried the scope of the Code of Conduct across accounts in instances where Members have separate social media accounts for their personal use, business use and their capacity as a Councillor.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Code of Conduct would be engaged where the posts themselves included a direct link to the Council or their role as a Councillor, regardless of which account they were posted from. 

A Member suggested engaging with the Local Government Association for assistance in appropriately framing social media use training.

There were none.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 15:30.