The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council was scheduled to meet on Monday 11 May 2026 to discuss updates on code of conduct complaints. The meeting agenda included a review of previous minutes and a report detailing complaint activity. A significant portion of the meeting was also scheduled to be held in private to consider a specific complaint reference.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints alleging breaches of 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 completed since the previous meeting on 2 April 2026. The report outlined that complaints are considered in accordance with the Council's Procedure for Member Code of Conduct Complaints, which was agreed by the Standards Committee on 15 October 2025 and became effective from 1 November 2025. The procedure states that the Standards Assessment Board, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, should consider complaints and decide on any action within 20 working days of receipt.

The report detailed the outcomes of complaints considered at previous meetings. For complaints heard on 17 March 2026, decision notices had been issued to all parties, with the outcome for each being no further action. For complaints received before 23 March 2026, three were considered at the meeting on 2 April 2026, with one resulting in no further action and two being deemed suitable for informal resolution. The report also noted complaints that were withdrawn by complainants due to a lack of necessary information, or rejected as they did not engage the Code of Conduct.

The update also covered complaints received between 24 March and 8 April 2026. Of these, some had been rejected, while others were at the pre-assessment stage or had reports being prepared for future assessment. Two complaints were scheduled for assessment by the Board on 11 May 2026.

Complaint Reference FS-Case-814191546

A significant part of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private to consider a specific complaint, referenced as FS-Case-814191546. This item involved a report from the Director of Legal & Democratic Services & Monitoring Officer, which 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. The exclusion of the public and press for this item was based on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.