Issue - meetings

To review the existing Councillor Code of Conduct and complaints processes. 

Copies of the Code of Conduct, Procedure for Handling Complaints and Procedure for hearing complaints attached. 

The Committee received copies of the current Councillor Code of Conduct and the procedures for handling and hearing complaints against members and co-opted members. 

NOTED

1.                Asmat Hussain, the previous Monitoring Officer, had agreed with Christine Chamberlain, Independent Person that there were occasions where a complaint may still warrant investigation even where it had been resolved informally or was withdrawn by the complainant.  They had suggested that the procedure should be changed to enable this.

2.               Following discussion, the committee recommended that the following paragraph be added to the procedure after paragraph 5.1:

“Where a registered complaint is subsequently withdrawn or resolved outside the procedure, the Monitoring Officer in consultation with Independent Persons(s) has the discretion to decide if the matter has been adequately and/or proportionately resolved or whether, given the substance of the original complaint, it should be escalated to the Committee for further consideration/resolution”.

3.               There were anomalies between the information on the complaint form and the procedure for hearing complaints.  On the complaint form it stated: 

“The Monitoring Officer will normally pass a copy of your complaint to the Councillor complained about so that he/she can comment. It is also in the interests of fairness and natural justice that a Councillor complained about should have the right to know who has made the complaint and what it is.

In very exceptional circumstances, the Monitoring Officer may agree to withhold your name and address. He/she would only do this if he/she has a good reason to believe that to give your name or address to the Councillor would be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice any investigation.”

In the procedure: 

“The Council encourages complainants to provide their name and contact details.  If the complainant asks for their identity to be protected, the Council will not disclose such details without their consent.”

4.               Following discussion members agreed with the Monitoring Officer that the information on the form could be off putting and could deter people making complaints.  It was therefore agreed that the form should be changed so that the information on the form matched what was written in the procedure. 

5.               The procedure for hearing complaints was not currently included as part of the Council Constitution.  Members felt that this should be added. 

AGREED that the following changes to the code of conduct procedures be recommended to Council for approval: 

·         To include the additional paragraph set out in 3 above after Paragraph 5.1 in the Procedure for Handling Complaints, enabling the Monitoring Officer to continue investigating a complaint if they felt it was necessary. 

·         To include the Procedure for Hearing Complaints in the constitution. 

The next Council meeting is due to take place on Wednesday 22 November 2017. 

The changes suggested above would also be made to the complaints form.