The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council met on Monday 1 June 2026 to consider updates on code of conduct complaints and to discuss specific ongoing cases. The meeting was scheduled to review the progress of various complaints and to determine the appropriate course of action for each.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members. This report, prepared by Helen Bradley, Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, provided an overview of ongoing complaints and those that had been completed since the previous meeting on 11 May 2026. The report indicated that the Council has a duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011¹ to promote and maintain high standards of conduct among its members. The procedure for handling these complaints, which was agreed by the Standards Committee on 15 October 2025 and effective from 1 November 2025, aims for complaints to be considered and decided upon within 20 working days of receipt.

The report detailed the status of complaints received before 23 March 2026, noting that four complaints had been considered by the Board on 11 May 2026, with three requiring no further action and one being suitable for informal resolution. One complaint was deferred to the 1 June meeting, and two others were scheduled for consideration on this date. The report also highlighted that officers were awaiting further information from a complainant in one instance, one complaint had been rejected as it did not engage the code, and two complaints were scheduled for a future meeting on 16 June 2026.

Additionally, the update covered complaints received between 30 April and 19 May 2026. Of the four complaints received in this period, two were rejected, one was withdrawn by the complainant, and one was undergoing pre-assessment by officers.

The report recommended that the Standards Assessment Board note its contents.

Specific Complaint References

The meeting was also scheduled to consider specific complaint references in Part B of the agenda, which involved the consideration of exempt or confidential information. These included:

• Complaint Reference FS-Case-821128552: This item was scheduled for discussion, with a report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer detailing the complaint, the Subject Member's response, the Monitoring Officer's advice, and the options available to the Board.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-810791640: This complaint was listed for consideration, with a report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer. This item had been deferred from a previous meeting on 11 May 2026.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-832744086: This complaint was also scheduled for discussion, with a report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer.

The report pack indicated that for some of these complaints, such as FS-Case-814191546 and FS-Case-826324814, the Standards Assessment Board had previously considered them on 11 May 2026 and issued decision notices indicating no further action was required. For FS-Case-826120629, the Board had also previously decided it was suitable for informal resolution.