The Standards Assessment Board of County Durham Council met on Thursday 2 April 2026 to consider updates on ongoing complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the progress of these complaints and review specific case details.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints lodged under the Council's Code of Conduct for Members. This report, prepared by Helen Bradley, Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, aimed to inform the Board about the status of ongoing complaints and those that had been concluded since the previous meeting on 17 March 2026.

The report detailed that as of the meeting date, there were a number of complaints being considered. Some had already been assessed, with decisions issued, while others were awaiting the Board's review. The report indicated that between 6 March 2026 and 23 March 2026, 12 new Code of Conduct complaints had been received. Of these, two were scheduled for consideration by the Board on 2 April 2026, three were at the pre-assessment stage, two were awaiting further information from the complainant, and four had been rejected for not engaging the Code of Conduct. One complaint was rejected due to the resignation of the Subject Member.

The report highlighted the Council's duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011¹ to promote and maintain high standards of conduct among its members. It also outlined the Council's procedure for handling complaints, which was agreed by the Standards Committee on 15 October 2025 and became effective from 1 November 2025. This procedure mandates that the Standards Assessment Board, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, should consider complaints and decide on any necessary action, normally within 20 working days of receipt.

The report recommended that the Standards Assessment Board note the contents of the update.

Specific Complaint References

The report pack also indicated that two specific complaint references were scheduled for discussion:

• Complaint Reference FS-Case-806836521: This complaint was received on 4 March 2026 and was listed for consideration by the Standards Assessment Board on 2 April 2026.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-810647092: This complaint was received on 11 March 2026 and was also scheduled for consideration by the Standards Assessment Board on 2 April 2026.

These specific complaints were listed as being discussed in Part B of the meeting, which was considered not open to the public due to the potential for the consideration of exempt or confidential information.