Agenda item

To receive an update from the Monitoring Officer on the complaints currently being considered. 

Members received a brief report of complaints currently under consideration. 

NOTED

1.         Only a brief outline had been provided, so as not to prejudice any outcome, if the committee were asked to hear the complaint or an appeal at a later date.

2.         The first complaint concerning the alleged disclosure of confidential information had been discussed with Sarah Jewell as Independent Person and was being investigated.

3.         The second complaint concerning social media postings had been discussed with Sarah Jewell as Independent Person and further action was being considered. 

4.         The third complaint concerning non-attendance at meetings had been investigated internally and no breach found.  

5.         It was acknowledged that this complaint had taken a long time to be resolved.   The aim was that all complaints should be resolved within 3 months, but these were often complicated issues and could take a long time to thoroughly investigate. 

6.         The fourth complaint concerned failure to treat with respect and bullying.  An external investigation had been carried out, a breach of the code of conduct found, and an appeal lodged.  An appeal hearing of the committee was to be arranged.

7.         Complaints 5 and 8 concerned failure to treat with respect and bullying.  Further detail was awaited on the fifth complaint and the eighth complaint had been considered by Sarah Jewell and would be investigated. 

8.         The sixth complaint concerned failure to treat with respect and bullying and equalities duties.  The complaint had been investigated, partially upheld and the councillor been asked to apologise to full Council.   It had taken a long time due to failure of the councillor to fully engage with the process. 

9.         The seventh complaint concerning a failure of openness, honesty, respect and the duty to uphold the law was being investigated.

10.      The ninth complaint concerning media comments had been closed following an initial determination.

11.      The tenth complaint concerning failure to uphold the law by interfering in the scrutiny process had been investigated and partially upheld.  An apology was to be sent to the complainant.  The matter is now closed, as no appeal had been received. 

12.      The eleventh complaint concerned an alleged inappropriate intervention in a planning matter.   An investigation was being carried out and would be speeded up. 

13.      The twelfth complaint concerning various matters including failure to treat with respect had been investigated, no breach found, no appeal received and so the matter had been closed. 

14.      The thirteenth complaint concerning alleged failure to treat with respect, bullying, intimidation, compromises to impartiality, conferring disadvantage and disrespect was being investigated externally.

15.      The fourteenth complaint concerning comments on facebook had been closed following initial determination. 

16.      The fifteenth complaint concerning failure to treat with respect, discourteous behaviour and bullying had been closed following initial determination. 

17.      Concern from Councillor Hamilton that as several of the complaints concerned internal political matters she felt that they should have been dealt with within the political group and not have been bought to the Councillor Conduct Committee.

18.      The advice that although political groups had their own rules and procedures, if the Monitoring Officer received a complaint about a councillor, he had a duty to follow the complaint process.

19.      Some of the complaints had been discussed in public by members but the Council had not and would not make public comments on these issues. 

20.      When considering breaches of the code of conduct, consideration had to be given as to whether the councillor, when the incident took place, had been acting in their capacity as a councillor. 

21.      The process for considering complaints involved initial determination, consultation with the independent person, if judged serious, an investigation would be undertaken and a decision made on whether or not a breach of the councillor code of conduct had occurred. 

22.      Sarah Jewell made clear that she was not related to Councillor Rick Jewell. 

23.      Officers aimed to carry out as many investigations as possible in house.  Only serious complaints were investigated externally.  Hiring external investigators involved extra costs, but the Council had to provide the necessary resources to ensure complaints were investigated appropriately. 

24.      Councillor Christine Hamilton suggested that a process should be developed whereby complaints were considered informally by the political groups before being referred to the Councillor Conduct Committee. 

AGREED to note the information provided on complaints currently under consideration.