The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council was scheduled to meet on Friday 3 July 2026 to consider updates on code of conduct complaints. The meeting agenda included a review of ongoing complaints and the potential exclusion of the public for discussions on specific confidential cases.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members since the previous meeting on 1 June 2026. A report was to be presented providing an overview of complaints being assessed and those that had been completed, in accordance with the Council's Procedure for Member Code of Conduct Complaints. The report was expected to indicate that at the time of the last meeting, eleven complaints were ongoing. Of these, four were considered on 1 June 2026, with three requiring no further action and one being suitable for informal resolution. Additionally, four complaints received before 30 April and 19 May 2026 had been processed, with two rejected for not engaging the code, one withdrawn, and one at the pre-assessment stage. The report was also to detail five complaints received between 20 May and 23 June 2026, with one rejected, one withdrawn, and one scheduled for the current meeting. The Board was to be asked to note this report.

Confidential Complaint Discussions

The meeting agenda also included items where the public and press were to be excluded due to the likely disclosure of exempt or confidential information. These items related to specific complaint references:

• Complaint Reference FS-Case-828434285: This item involved the consideration of a report detailing a specific complaint, the Subject Member's response, advice from the Monitoring Officer, and the options available to the Board.
• Complaint Reference COM 438: Similar to the above, this item was scheduled for the Board to consider a report containing details of the complaint, the Subject Member's response, advice from the Monitoring Officer, and potential actions.
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-842131744: This was another complaint for which a report was to be considered, including the complaint details, the Subject Member's response, the Monitoring Officer's advice, and the Board's available options.

The Local Government Act 1972¹ allows for the exclusion of the public from meetings when confidential information is likely to be disclosed.