Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which provided an overview of the possible options for the future assessment of Code of Conduct complaints, and compared the way in which complaints were assessed at Durham County Council to the practices of other Local Authorities in the region and other unitary authorities nationally (for copy see file of Minutes).

Members discussed the report at length and the general consensus was that the existing arrangements for the assessment of code of conduct complaints should be maintained. The Committee felt that since the Localism Act 2011 Members relied upon the expertise of Officers to make a balanced judgement on a complaint in accordance with criteria in the Local Assessment Procedure.

The Committee discussed Member involvement in the process which had reduced since the changes brought about by the Localism Act 2011 and the suggestion was made by Councillor Dixon that the Chair meet with Officers between Standards Committee meetings to discuss how complaints were being progressed. David Taylor, Legal Manager – Property, Planning and Procurement  advised that this could be arranged, however if the Chair had knowledge of a complaint at the assessment stage it would prevent him from sitting on a Hearings Panel if the complaint went to investigation.

Concern was expressed at the current volume of complaints particularly at Parish and Town Council level and the suggestion was made that training of Members may be useful, and that the importance of adhering to the Code of Conduct should be emphasised as soon as a person was elected as Councillor.

In response to questions from Members, David Taylor advised that whilst all Members were encouraged to attend training, sessions could not be made compulsory and a reliance was placed on individual Councillors to recognise the benefits and importance of training on the Code of Conduct.

Following discussion it was Resolved:

That the existing arrangements for assessment of Code of Conduct complaints be maintained.