The Standards Assessment Board was scheduled to consider an update on ongoing complaints received under the Code of Conduct for Members. The meeting was also scheduled to address a specific complaint, Reference FS-Case-873242217, which was to be considered in a part of the meeting not open to the public.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Standards Assessment Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints lodged 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 concluded. The Council has a duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011¹ to uphold high standards of conduct among its members. The report was to outline how complaints are assessed 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 came into effect on 1 November 2025.

The report pack indicated that at the time of the previous meeting on 8 October 2026, there were four complaints ongoing that had been received before 28 September 2026. Two of these were scheduled to be considered at the 8 October meeting, with decision notices to be prepared. One complaint was scheduled for consideration at the 19 October meeting, and officers were preparing a report for another complaint to be presented to the Board at the earliest opportunity.

Additionally, two complaints had been received between 29 September and 7 October 2026. Both of these were at the pre-assessment stage and were scheduled to be presented to the Board as soon as possible. The report recommended that the Standards Assessment Board note its contents.

Complaint Reference FS-Case-873242217

A significant portion of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private to consider Complaint Reference FS-Case-873242217. The report pack indicated that this item would involve the consideration of exempt or confidential information. The details of the complaint, the response from the subject member, and the advice of the Monitoring Officer were to be presented to the Board. The Board was scheduled to consider the options available to it when reviewing such complaints.