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Standards and General Purposes Committee - Thursday, 12th June, 2025 1.00 pm
June 12, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meeting Read transcript (Professional subscription required)Summary
The Standards and General Purposes Committee met to review the handling of Member Code of Conduct complaints for the year 2024-2025, and to note the committee's work programme. Councillor Kelly Thornton was appointed as Vice-Chairman of the committee.
Annual Review of Member Code of Conduct Complaints
The committee reviewed the annual report on the Member Code of Conduct complaints 1 for the year 2024-2025. The report provided an overview of the complaints received, differentiating between those relating to Buckinghamshire Council councillors and those concerning parish and town council members. The report also assessed the effectiveness of the council's complaints procedure.
Key findings of the report:
- No breaches of the code were found against Buckinghamshire councillors or against any parish or town councillors.
- There were 15 complaints about Buckinghamshire councillors, compared to 27 in the previous year.
- There were 23 complaints about parish/town councillors, the same number as in the previous year.
- The most common allegation was
disrespect,
accounting for 21 out of 38 complaints. - 76% of complaints came from the public.
Effectiveness of the complaints arrangements:
- 76% of complaints were dealt with within the expected timeframes.
- 73% of all complaints were concluded at the initial assessment stage.
- No complaints progressed to a formal hearing.
Points of learning from the complaints:
- Disagreements over governance within parish/town councils were a common flashpoint for complaints.
- Emphasis on good practice around registering gifts and hospitality in training led to no complaints being received on this topic during the year.
Trends in complaints since unitary status:
- For the two years 2020/21 and 2021/22, parish and town council complaints outnumbered those made against Buckinghamshire councillors. For 2022/23 and 2023/24 this changed, but in 2024/25 parish and town council complaints again outnumbered Buckinghamshire Council complaints.
- The code principle of 'Respect' was the most significant cause of complaint for both tiers.
- Over half of Parish and Town Council complaints arose internally from fellow councillors or staff, while complaints against Buckinghamshire Councillors were mostly made by members of the public.
Potential changes to ethical standards regime in 2025/26:
The government is considering changes to the ethical standards regime, including:
- A mandatory minimum code of conduct for local authorities in England.
- A requirement that all principal authorities convene formal standards committees to make decisions on code of conduct breaches, and publish the outcomes of all formal investigations.
- The introduction of the power for all local authorities to suspend councillors or mayors found in serious breach of their code of conduct.
- A new category of disqualification for gross misconduct.
- A role for a national body to deal with appeals.
The committee noted that it would have a key role in assessing any proposals from the government regarding potential changes to the code, the complaints arrangements, and any communications or training for councillors.
Councillor Phil Gomm noted the value of the quarterly reports on code of conduct complaints, saying:
During, as you educate yourselves within this committee, it's really interesting to see those quarterly reports as they come in. So you become very inquisitive to what goes on, and the officers answer the questions extremely well. So it's some great learning as those reports do come in.
The committee agreed to note the annual review of the Member Code of Conduct complaints for 2024/25.
Work Programme
The committee noted its work programme, which includes quarterly reviews of Member Code of Conduct complaints and an annual report on corporate complaints and statutory adult and social care complaints considered by the ombudsman. The next meeting is scheduled for 10 July 2025.
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The Member Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour expected of elected and co-opted members of local authorities. ↩
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