The Standards Committee met to discuss mandatory member training and the council's organisational complaints procedure. The committee recommended to the council that failure to undertake mandatory training should be a breach of the code of conduct. The committee also agreed to monitor waste management and enforcement.

Mandatory Member Training

The committee recommended to the council that failure to undertake mandatory training should be a breach of the code of conduct.

The Group Manager (Assurance) outlined the report on mandatory member training, which followed a recommendation from the Constitution and Governance Committee. The report recommended that non-compliance with mandatory training requirements for members should represent a breach of the Code of Conduct.

A number of points were raised during the discussion:

• A member queried whether the issue should be deferred to the next meeting of the Standards Committee, given that a judgement was expected from the government regarding the Code of Conduct. The Group Manager (Assurance) advised that there were grounds for doing so, but reminded members that the report was acting on a recommendation from the Constitution and Governance Committee and the previous recommendation of the Standards Committee.
• A member who had sat on the Working Group advised that it had been aware of the danger of a significant workload, and this had come across in the Working Group’s recommendations. The Working Group had made adjustments to the compliance time so that members would receive a fair warning before any action was taken against them. He also noted that members could not sit on any planning committees unless they had undertaken the relevant training.
• In response to a query, the Group Manager (Assurance) advised that he would advise members at the Code of Conduct training about the requirement to undertake mandatory training and that guidance was expected from the government regarding the Code of Conduct.
• There was a general consensus that the committee should proceed with the recommendations as it was expected that there would be at least a year to embed them. The recommendations made sense and it would be important to have clear guidance for the new members.
• It was noted that the report referred to the intervention of group leaders, and it was queried what would happen if they did not engage as they should. In response, it was advised that the work of the group leaders had been very productive in recent years, but if training was not completed there would still be a breach of the code of conduct. In the case of members that were a single member of a group then they would be spoken to directly by officers.

The committee then made the following recommendations to the council:

1. To reflect the decisions and recommendations of the Constitution and Governance Committee and the Standards Committee, the Code of Conduct for Members be amended by the addition of the following with immediate effect:

"Mandatory training

2.XX Subject to paragraph 2.XY of this Code, you will be in breach of this Code if:

(a) You have failed to complete one or more modules of mandatory training, as required by the Member Development Strategy; and

(b) That failure is for a period of at least one calendar month from when the mandatory training was required to be completed.

2.XY You will not be in breach of this Code by virtue of paragraph 2.XX above if:

(a) Intervening circumstances such as illness, an approved reason for absence, jury service or a family emergency have prevented you from completing the required mandatory training; or

(b) You have been waiting for reasonable adjustments to be made in response to a protected characteristic to enable you to complete the required mandatory training; or

(c) The required training has not been available to you because, for example, the Learning Hub has been inoperable for a prolonged period and in each case the circumstances have been explained in writing to the Monitoring Officer and the Monitoring Officer has confirmed that the explanation provides legitimate justification for not having been completed to that point in time. The responsibility for bringing this to the attention of the Monitoring Officer rests with the individual Member.

2.XZ The obligation to complete any outstanding or overdue mandatory training is not negated by the Monitoring Officer accepting any justification for non-compliance in accordance with paragraph 2.XZ, and any outstanding or overdue training must be completed within one calendar month of the lapsing of any impediments preventing completion, and failure to do so will be a breach of the Code pursuant to paragraph 2.XX.

2.YY Breaches of the Code related to the failure to complete mandatory training will be recorded without the need for formal complaints being submitted, the collation of any further information, investigation, or the issue of formal decision notices."

The committee also agreed that:

1. Failure by members to complete mandatory training that must be undertaken prior to taking up seats or roles on committees is not addressed through the Code of Conduct but instead through the corresponding rules in the Constitution, and through the intervention of group leaders, and that all other mandatory training (according to the Member training requirements approved from time to time) will be subject to the provisions addressed within the following recommendations.

2. That the Council’s Procedures for the Assessment and Review of Allegations of Breaches of the Members’ Code Of Conduct is amended by the addition of:

   (a) “Failure by Members of Cornwall Council to comply with their obligations to undertake mandatory training shall be deemed to be:

   (i) Written allegations for the purposes of sub-section 28(9) of the Localism Act 2011, made in the name of the Council’s Head of Legal (or whatever the designation of the officer responsible for that service area); and

   (ii) Determined in accordance with sub-section 28(4)of the 2011Act by virtue of the decisions made by the Council’s Constitution & Governance Committee and Standards Committee, the corresponding provisions in the Council’s Code of Conduct and this paragraph of these Procedures.”;

   (b) “Breaches of the Code related to failure to complete mandatory training will be recorded without the need for formal complaints being submitted, the collation of any further information, investigation, or the issue of formal decision notices.”; and

   (c) “Complaints from the public, Members or others that any Member has not complied with their mandatory training obligations will be rejected as any such non-compliance will be addressed in accordance with the Code of Conduct and these Procedures.”

3. That compliance/non-compliance with the mandatory training requirements is routinely reported to the Committee through the standing item on ethical standards complaints.

4. That a review of the operation of the arrangements to which this report relates is undertaken by the Monitoring Officer or their nominee(s) in conjunction with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee, or a Working Group of Committee

5. Members, with a view to a formal report being presented to the Committee for consideration at the April 2026 meeting, or the closest meeting to that date.

6. That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to:

   (i) Ensure that mandatory training requirements are appropriately communicated to Members so they are clear on their obligations, and the consequences of non-compliance.

   (ii) Determine the arrangements for monitoring compliance/non-compliance by Members with the mandatory training requirements.

   (iii) Determine the method and frequency of reporting on compliance/non1compliance, with the expectation being that such reporting is on the Council’s website.

   (iv) Communicate appropriately with the wider membership in relation to the fact and timing of reporting of compliance/non-compliance.

   (v) Engage with the appropriate Group Leader(s) with a view to securing their support to enforce the measures related to mandatory training for Members, including that required before taking up seats or roles on committees.

Organisational Complaints Report

The committee resolved to note the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Complaints report and requested that the new Standards Committee monitor waste management and enforcement.

The Group Manager (Assurance), and the Head of Customer Experience and Improvement outlined the Organisational Complaints Report.

A number of points were raised, including:

1. In response to a question about the time a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) takes to process, it was advised that the council continually monitored complaints and used a tracker to do so. Complaints were tracked as soon as they were received, right through to the end of the process. It appeared that the LGSCO only allocated a certain amount of complaints to any one investigator at any one time. Length of time investigating complaints also depended on which service they were about.
2. Concern was expressed about the fact that the report referenced investigations lasting up to a number of years. It was queried that this would surely generate even more complaints. In response it was advised that once complaints were passed to the LGSCO they were managed by them completely and the council was not involved.
3. It was noted that the LGSCO regularly updated complainants and the council about the process of a complaint.
4. In response to a query it was advised that if a complaint was concerning a private matter the LGSCO would normally refer the matter to the court as the higher authority. It was noted that court decisions were binding, however the LGSCO could only make recommendations.
5. A member requested that the new Standards Committee be requested to monitor waste management and enforcement going forward.

The committee then resolved that:

1. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Complaints report be noted.
2. The new Standards Committee be requested to monitor waste management and enforcement.