The Monitoring Officer submitted a report outlining the number, type and disposal of complaints made by members of the public against councillors.  The report covered complaints for 2022/23.

Annex A to the report contained a list of five complaints in the financial year 2022/23. It was noted that two of the complainants referred two councillors to the Monitoring Officer bringing the total number of complaints to seven.

Of the seven complaints set out in Annex A:

• 2 complaints resulted in no action as no evidence was provided when requested.
• 4 were judged not to engage the Code of Conduct and were rejected at the initial filter stage.
• 1 complaint was against a third-party contractor and not due to councillor conduct.

Annex A also provided data on the timeliness of responses to acknowledge and answer complaints.

It was noted that if a complaint was brought regarding a third-party contractor employed by the Council, then this would need to go through the Council’s official complaints process.

The Committee were informed that guidance on the use of Council resources for political purposes was included in the Councillors Code of Conduct and Handbook.  Training on the new Code of Conduct had been provided to all new councillors following the election and further training would be arranged for all existing councillors.

Resolved –

(1)            That the Member Complaints received in the financial year 2022/2023 be noted.

(2)            That training would be provided to all councillors on the Code of Conduct.

(3)        That any further work which might be necessary to promote high standards of conduct in public life in the Council be considered.