The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council met on Friday 11 September 2026 to consider updates on ongoing complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members. The meeting was scheduled to discuss a number of specific complaint references, with the majority of these items being held in private session.

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. The Council has a duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011 to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by its members. The report indicated that at the time of the previous meeting on 27 July 2026, there were three complaints ongoing that had been received before 16 July 2026. One of these was considered on 27 July 2026, with a decision notice issued for no further action. Two further complaints were scheduled for consideration by the Board on 11 September 2026.

Between 16 July 2026 and 1 September 2026, 21 complaints were received. Of these, one was rejected due to a lack of complainant contact details, two were explicitly withdrawn by the complainants, and a further two were treated as withdrawn due to insufficient information. Three complaints were rejected as they did not engage the Code of Conduct. Eight complaints were scheduled for consideration by the Board on 11 September 2026, and five remained at the pre-assessment stage.

The report recommended that the Board note its contents. The full procedure for Member Code of Conduct Complaints, agreed by the Standards Committee on 15 October 2025, was available as a background paper.

Complaint References for Consideration

The majority of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private to consider specific complaint references. These included:

• Complaint Reference COM 439
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-859237730 and FS-Case-859406429
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-864520634
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-860471424
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-858711204
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-857948859
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-857086882
• Complaint Reference FS-Case-859234779
• Complaint Reference COM440

These items were listed under Part B of the agenda, indicating that they involved the consideration of exempt or confidential information. The report pack provided details for each of these complaints, including the complaint itself, the Subject Member's response, the advice of the Monitoring Officer, and the options available to the Board.