The Standards Assessment Board was scheduled to meet on Monday 1 June 2026 to discuss updates on code of conduct complaints. The meeting agenda included a review of ongoing complaints and consideration of specific case references.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members of Durham County Council. This report, prepared by Helen Bradley, Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, was intended to inform the Board about the status of ongoing complaints and those that had been assessed 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, agreed in October 2025, aims for assessment within 20 working days of receipt.

The report detailed the progress of complaints received before 23 March 2026, noting that four had been considered at the 11 May meeting, with three requiring no further action and one being suitable for informal resolution. One complaint was deferred to this meeting, and two others were scheduled for consideration. The report also covered complaints received between 30 April and 19 May 2026, with two rejected for not engaging the code, one withdrawn, and one undergoing pre-assessment.

The Board was asked to note the contents of this report.

Specific Complaint References

In addition to the general update, the Board was scheduled to consider three specific complaint references in Part B of the meeting, which was not open to the public. These were:

• Complaint Reference FS-Case-821128552: This item was scheduled for consideration, with a report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-810791640: This complaint had been deferred from a previous meeting and was scheduled for consideration on 1 June 2026.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-832744086: This complaint was also scheduled for consideration by the Board.

The reports for these specific cases would have provided details of the complaint, the subject member's response, the advice of the Monitoring Officer, and the options available to the Board.