Minutes:
The Committee considered a report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which provided an update report in respect of complaints of alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct (for copy see file of Minutes).
The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the report, which demonstrated to Members the rate of business which was being dealt with in relation to Code of Conduct complaints.
In response to a question from Councillor I Jewell, the Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that there was limited redress for any Councillor wrongly accused of breaching the Code of Conduct. Complaints made without malice enjoyed qualified privilege in defamation law.The only real means of redress for a Member in such a situation would be through local media if they considered that would give an opportunity to set the record straight..
Resolved:
That the report be noted.