The Standards Committee of Wiltshire Council met on Tuesday 29 September 2026 to review annual reports on whistleblowing and complaints, and to consider proposed changes to the council's constitution. The meeting also included a status report on Code of Conduct complaints.

Whistleblowing Policy Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to receive a report from the Director, Legal and Governance, detailing the council's whistleblowing concerns between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026. The report indicated that 10 concerns were received, with two progressing as whistleblowing complaints. The report also covered findings from an audit of the council's whistleblowing arrangements by SWAP Internal Audit Services, which identified areas for improvement in manager confidence and staff awareness. Actions taken included the development of an e-learning course, Understanding Whistleblowing, and promotion through internal communications.

Annual Complaints Report

A report on the council's complaints performance and service improvement for 2025-26 was scheduled for discussion. This report highlighted a significant increase in both formal complaints (up 27% to 783) and service requests (up 40% to 2,384) compared to the previous year. The services receiving the most complaints were Adult Social Care, Families and Children, Education and Skills, and Housing Services. The report noted that despite rising complaint volumes, the council's complaints handling performance had improved, with a higher percentage of responses provided within statutory timescales. It also indicated that the council performed positively in relation to findings by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), with a lower percentage of upheld complaints than the national average for unitary councils. The report also touched upon the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools by residents to draft complaints and the council's exploration of AI for complaint management.

Status Report on Code of Conduct Complaints

The committee was to be updated on the current position of Code of Conduct complaints. Since the previous meeting on 30 June 2026, the Monitoring Officer had received 28 complaints. Of these, 13 were dismissed by the Monitoring Officer under paragraph 4.2.8 of Protocol 11, and 8 were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. The report indicated that no breaches of the Code of Conduct had been determined by the Monitoring Officer or Hearing Sub-Committee during the reporting period. The average assessment time for complaints was noted as 3.1 working days.

Constitutional Changes

The committee was scheduled to consider recommendations from the Constitution Focus Group regarding proposed changes to the council's constitution. These included amendments to Part 4 (Council Rules of Procedure) and Part 3B/3D and Protocol 4 (Planning Committees). The proposed changes to the Council Rules of Procedure aimed to simplify and clarify existing rules. The changes related to Planning Committees were largely driven by new government regulations, the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, which introduced a National Scheme of Delegation and a Gateway Test for determining which applications could be decided by a planning committee. The report noted that the council had objected to these national changes, viewing them as a diminution of local democracy, but was required to comply with the law. The proposals sought to retain a planning committee structure as close to current arrangements as permissible, while adapting to the new legal requirements, including the removal of the call-in process for local members and the introduction of the Gateway Test. The committee was asked to recommend these changes to Full Council for approval.