Agenda item

Schedule prepared by the Monitoring Officer attached.

The Monitoring Officer will report verbally on the latest position with regard to the complaints listed and any issues arising from them.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a schedule summarising complaints of alleged breaches of the Council’s Code of Conduct, which were being processed or had been completed since the last meeting of the Committee.

She explained that members should be aware that in light of the pandemic it had been agreed to put all work on investigating complaints on hold, due to the practicalities of carrying our investigations and also that officers usually involved had been deployed elsewhere to work in areas directly linked to the pandemic itself.

The July Standards Committee had also been cancelled and as a result of that, there was a slight backlog with some of the earlier complaints.

She provided further information on each of the complaints referred to in the schedule, as follows:

2020/01

The Monitoring Officer said this complaint was dealt with fully before the start of the first lockdown, however, there has only just been the opportunity to report on it. The complaint had come from a member of the public, who alleged that a Parish/Town councillor had brought their council into disrepute when organising an event. The member of the public had been interviewed to provide more detail surrounding the complaint.

The subject member had been interviewed and co-operated fully. They had provided very comprehensive documentation to defend the allegation. The Monitoring Officer explained that after taking all of this information into account, it was the view of the Independent Person and Monitoring Officer that no breach of the code had occurred and the matter should be concluded.

2020/02

The Monitoring Officer reported that a number of councillors had made a complaint against a Wyre councillor regarding comments made at a council meeting. The Monitoring Officer and Independent Person had now listened to the recording of the meeting and had concluded that a breach of the code had occurred.

The subject member had been asked to discuss an appropriate remedy with the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person but as yet this conversation had not taken place. Therefore, the complaint was not concluded.

2020/03

The Monitoring Officer said that similar to the above complaint, a number of councillors had made a complaint about a Wyre councillor at a council meeting. Again, the recording had been listened to by the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person who had both concluded that a breach of the code had not occurred.

This matter was, therefore, concluded.

2020/05

The Monitoring Officer explained that a member of the public had complained about a Wyre councillor. The accusation was one of bullying, intimidation and failure to subsequently declare an interest at a meeting. This case had moved on since the publishing of the papers for this meeting and the Monitoring Officer explained that if upheld, it would be a serious allegation.

The Monitoring Officer and Independent Person had undertaken work to gain an understanding of the issues relating to the case and help put the matter into context. The Monitoring Officer said that they had spoken to the appropriate officer and had taken the opportunity to speak with the subject member. The case was in the final stages and should be concluded very soon.

2020/06

The Monitoring Officer reported that a complaint had been made by a member of the public against a Parish/Town Councillor. She explained that there were two parts to the complaint and that further information had been requested and the investigation was ongoing.

Agreed:

1.               That the summary of complaints submitted by the Monitoring Officer and her verbal update on each of the complaints referred to be noted.