Agenda item

To consider the report

Contact officer: Glenn Watson

This report provided the Committee with a review of the Member Code of Conduct

complaints dealt with during 2022/23. It also outlined the effectiveness of the

procedure; reports on the training given by the Monitoring Officer; and highlighted

emerging best practice in ethical governance. The report also updated the Committee on the outcome of a Stage 3 Hearing Sub-Committee into three complaints about a Hughenden parish councillor.

The Principal Governance Officer highlighted the following information to Members:-

•   Nine individual Buckinghamshire Councillors were the subject of a complaint in 2022/23. However, while 18 people made complaints, in 10 cases these related to three particular circumstances.

•      Nine individual parish and town councillors were the subject of a complaint in 2022/23. However, while 15 people made complaints, two complainants make a complaint about the same incident. One parish councillor was the subject of seven (nearly 50%) of the complaints received, covering six different circumstances.

•      The most commonly alleged breach of the Code was Respect. Overall, perceived disrespect was a cause of complaint in 25 of the 33 (76%) complaints received. It was equally the case for both tiers of council. This reflected the national picture. The second most common allegation was ‘bullying’ at parish level and ‘bias and predetermination’ at Buckinghamshire Council.

•      The Civility and Respect Project was a joint initiative between the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) and county associations. The Project was conceived in response to growing concerns about the impact bullying, harassment, and intimidation on local (parish and town) councils, councillors, clerks and council staff and the resulting effectiveness of local councils. It appeared only a small number of Buckinghamshire local councils had so far signed up to the pledge.

•      During 2022/23, the Buckinghamshire Council complaints were all considered within the timeframes apart from one: in that case, the Initial Assessment took 19 days rather than 15 while certain evidence was checked with the complainant.

•      52% of cases (17 complaints) were concluded at Initial Assessment as the Code was not sufficiently engaged. A further 36% (12 complaints) were closed at Stage 1 (Informal Resolution) with either no or minor action necessary. 88% of complaints were resolved without recourse to further escalation.

•      Three complaints (regarding the same councillor) were considered to be serious enough to warrant a Stage 3 investigation. Subsequently, a Hearing Sub-Committee of this Committee was convened. The outcome was that Cllr Derrick was found to have breached the ‘Respect’ provision in each case, and the ‘Bullying’ provision in two of them. In the interests of transparency, about the Council’s processes, a press release was issued at the request of the Sub-Committee to draw attention to the Council’s Decision Notice.

•      During 2022/23, and in fulfilment of the Council’s duty to promote and maintain good standards of conduct, the Monitoring Officer’s team delivered training through the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils in July 2022 and January 2023. The training covered member code and complaints arrangements. Two further sessions on the code were delivered, on request, to specific councils, Buckingham Town Council (in October 2022) and Hughenden Parish Council (January 2023).

During discussion the following points were noted:-

• With reference to the Hearing Sub-Committee a Member asked why the membership had not been proportional. In response it was noted that the political balance calculations did not result in a clear right to representation for each group (for a Committee of 3, 2 Conservatives, 0 Alliance Group and 0 IMPACT Alliance with a remainder of 1). The Council’s procedures for hearing complaints expected that a Sub-Committee would consist of three members of this Committee, without further specification. A Member made the point that some Members of the Committee might be particularly interested in serving on a Hearings Sub-Committee and this expertise should be used where possible. The Chairman confirmed that he had initially asked for volunteers to come forward for this Sub-Committee. However, he was intending that following the Annual Council Meeting in May there would be a formal agenda item for this Committee to agree a protocol for managing the membership of a Hearing Sub-Committee. This would take account of achieving a range of representation and would have regard to a person’s interest and willingness to be involved. It was also important to be clear on the approach to take where Members, potentially sitting on the Sub-Committee, may represent the area serviced by the council subject to the complaint. Members also noted that there was an independent Investigating Officer and also an Independent Person who sat on the Sub-Committee.
• Reference was made to the Civility and Respect Project particularly in view of the fact that there was no strict governance guidance for Parish and Town Councils. It would be helpful to push this pledge so that it was adopted by more Parish Councils. Members also noted that top tier Councils had very limited powers to impose sanctions on Parish Councillors who had breached the code of conduct.
• In terms of benchmarking, a question was asked about whether Buckinghamshire had received a low level of complaints. The Principal Governance Officer reported that most Councils did not publish their complaint numbers although some research could be done to find them out. However reference was made to paragraph 2.10 of the report which referred to the national picture in terms of types of complaints received. The Service Director reported that the standard of conduct amongst councillors was high generally.

Members agreed that it would be helpful to agree a protocol for handling Hearing Sub-Committee membership following the Annual Council in May and also to bring attention to the Civility and Respect Project at a future meeting of Full Council.

RESOLVED that:-

1) the annual review of the Member Code of Conduct Complaints for 2022/23 be noted

2) the decision of the Stage 3 Hearing Sub-Committee with regard to three complaints about a Hughenden Parish Councillor be noted.

3) the Committee consider agreeing a protocol, at its first full meeting of the new council year, as to the appointment of members to future meetings of the Hearing Sub-Committee.