Agenda item

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer: maria.damigos@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

The Committee received a report which gave an overview of the number and nature of the complaints received about Members under the Code of Conduct from April 2021 along with details of other complaints which were being processed or have been concluded. In terms of complaints received since April 2021 the Monitoring Officer had received 15 complaints. Six of these related to a Buckinghamshire Council Member. There remained five complaints opened against a Buckinghamshire Council Member although it was expected that these would be resolved and closed shortly.

The Principal Governance Solicitor reported that whilst some complaints covered more than one theme, the majority of new complaints related to behaviour at meetings and interests/bias. Bullying or respect was mentioned in 7 complaints with 4 complaints relating to misleading information. One complaint related to failure to respond to enquiries. Appendix 1 of the report provided a summary of the complaints. Appendix 2 showed a breakdown of complaints. In terms of those under initial assessment it showed 12, however 5 of those complaints have now been closed. One complaint had been left open against a unitary councillor and another complaint was expected to be received. All the other complaints related to town and parish councillors. There were 7 stage 3 complaints but this related to one issue. This would proceed to a Hearings Sub-Committee.

During discussion the following points were made:-

·             A Councillor suggested it would be helpful to break down the information between unitary and parish and town councillors. He also asked a question on whether town and parish councils could be recharged the cost of administering complaints. In response it was noted that this was not allowed. Another councillor emphasised the importance of showing the breakdown as complaints had now increased to 22 (this was now 17 as 5 cases had been closed). This would be undertaken for the next report.

·             A further question was asked about malicious/vexatious complainants. The Principal Governance Solicitor reported that the Council could refuse to accept malicious complaints after an initial assessment had been undertaken.

·             Complaints were administered by the Service Director and the Principal Governance Solicitor. Some of the complaints could be quite detailed and involve witnesses. The Council was bolstering support in the governance area in particular to help deal with Member complaints, and was currently going through a recruitment process.

·             Concern was raised with regard to the number of outstanding cases at the end of each month. The Principal Governance Solicitor reported that this could be related to how numbers were reported eg 7 complaints had been recorded against one councillor on the same issue. There was no control over town and parish councillor complaints. Complaints could also be made by members of the public. There were very few complaints that go past Stage 1. Stage 3 involved a formal investigation. In terms of the process once the complaint has been received it was logged, it could then take a while to clarify the complaint with the complainant and then obtain a response from the councillor. Some Parish Councils have relationship issues and therefore this would increase the likelihood of formal complaints being made.

·             Another Member made reference to the number of outstanding complaints and suggested that there was a resource issue. There was a range of complaints between 0-8 a month and it could be helpful to look at streamlining the process and prioritising more serious complaints. In response it was noted that complaint figures would also look high because complaints rolled forward from one month to the next while they were waiting for a response from the subject councillor. They were given four weeks to reply. Complaints would usually take two months as once a response had been received from the subject councillor then this response would then need to be considered by the complainant where they were given another four weeks.

·             A Member asked whether Parish Councils tried to sort out the situation locally. They could try and resolve issues informally however it was a right to complain to the Monitoring Officer. The Council had no jurisdiction over Parish Council decisions just conduct issues.

·             A Member asked a question about what role political groups played in the complaints process. The Service Director reported that each political group had their own disciplinary process. All Members of Buckinghamshire Council were in a political grouping. The Group Leader had a responsibility for maintaining high standards of conduct. There could also be some areas where the Group could take action over an individual which was not covered by the Code e.g. making a comment in their private life. Officers would speak to Group Leaders if they had any concern about the behaviour of an individual councillor.

·             A question was asked about the number of Stage 3 complaints where an investigation was required. The Principal Governance Solicitor reported that this was the first Stage 3 that the Council had looked at which only related to one complaint. Most complaints were dealt with at Stage 1. The Stage 3 complaint was a complex case.

Members suggested that it would be helpful to look at why the Council presented all complaints on one case as several complaints. It would also be helpful to have an average time on how long complaints spent on each stage of the process to look at the framework of reporting.

RESOLVED that the report be noted relating to dealing with complaints against councillors for the period April 2021 to October 2021.