The Governance, General Purposes & Local Government Reorganisation Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss local government reorganisation, complaint handling, customer feedback, and the code of conduct. Councillors were also expected to discuss remote attendance at meetings and the committee work programme.

Local Government Reorganisation in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

The committee were scheduled to receive an update on the government's requirement for local government reorganisation, including the work being done to develop option 1e as a final proposal for submission in November 2025.

At a meeting on 15 July, the Full Council considered an independent options appraisal and summary document from PwC UK, which concluded that options 1b and 1e both met the government's criteria and that the differences between options 1b and 1e within each criteria are marginal .

Newark & Sherwood District Council identified Option 1e as its preferred approach. Under this option, two new unitary councils serving the whole of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire would be created:

• One new unitary council that includes Nottingham City, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe; plus
• One new unitary council that includes Newark and Sherwood, Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Gedling and Mansfield.

The leaders of Mansfield, Newark & Sherwood, Gedling, and Bassetlaw issued a joint statement on 4 August 2025, formally expressing their support for Option 1e in the LGR process.

All Nottinghamshire councils are continuing to collaborate, despite having different preferences. Ashfield and Nottinghamshire County Council have yet to formally declare their positions, and Nottingham City Council are exploring a new two unitary option. Rushcliffe Borough Council has agreed to submit a final proposal in support of option 1b, and while Broxtowe Borough Council is opposed to LGR, it has expressed a marginal preference for option 1e.

A Programme Board was established, with Mansfield's Chief Executive confirmed as the CEO sponsor. The board comprises Chief Executives alongside colleagues responsible for LGR programme management within their respective councils, as well as senior officers in their role as workstream leads.

There are five workstreams in total, with workstreams four and six combined, reflecting the government's criteria for LGR. Each workstream has a range of officers involved and a lead senior officer responsible for collating their outcomes for the business case, liaising with the board. The workstreams are expected to report their outcomes by the end of September. The criteria and workstreams are as follows:

• Single Tier of Government
• Improve Efficiencies and Capacity
• High Quality and Sustainable Public Services
• Meeting local needs and informed by local views Stronger community engagement and opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment)
• Structures that support devolution arrangements

Each council is responsible for determining how best to engage with its communities. All nine councils are working collaboratively to gather public views on the future structure of local government through a shared engagement survey. The survey launched on 4 August for 6 weeks and is open to anyone who lives, works, or has an interest in the area.

The survey is being promoted though a neutral joint Nottingham and Nottinghamshire dedicated LGR website.

The feedback from this survey will help shape and will be clearly evidenced in the final proposal.

The headline timetable for the wider activities are as follows:

Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code Self-Assessment Update

The committee were scheduled to receive an update on the completion of the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.

The Housing Ombudsman (HO) Complaint Handling Code sets out best practice for landlord's complaint handling procedures, to enable a positive complaints culture across all landlords within the social housing sector. The Code encourages landlord-tenant relationships so that residents can raise a complaint if things go wrong.

The Complaint Handling Code became statutory on 1 April 2024, meaning that all members of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme are obliged by law to follow its requirements. The Housing Ombudsman has a legal duty to ensure landlords' complaint procedures and responses are compliant with the Code.

Landlords are required to submit an annual self-assessment of their compliance against the Code. For 2025, landlords with 1,000 homes or more are required to submit their assessment to the HO by 30 September 2025.

There are nine sections of the Code:

• Definition what is a complaint?
• Exclusions what will not be treated as a complaint
• Accessibility making it easy to make a complaint- meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and offering reasonable adjustments where appropriate
• Staff landlords should have a designated person or team to respond to complaints
• Process sets out a clear 2 stage complaints process
• Stages sets out the timescales to provide a response at both stages including the use of extensions
• Putting things right considering the impact on the resident and setting out what will be done to put things right
• Self-assessment landlords must complete an annual self-assessment of their compliance against the Code
• Scrutiny appointing a Member Responsible for Complaints to have responsibility and accountability for complaints

In order to comply with the Code, the council must complete an annual self-assessment to evidence that their policies and practices align with the code. This has been completed and was reviewed by the Tenant Engagement Board on 19 June 2025. The completed self-assessment is attached as Appendix One to the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code - Report.

The council is compliant in all but two areas sections 8.1 and 8.2. This is due to the timings of the Committee meetings. Once the report has received committee approval and has been published on the Council's website, the self-assessment will be updated and resubmitted to the Housing Ombudsman, prior to the 30 September deadline. Following on from this, the Council will be compliant in all areas.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Update

The committee were scheduled to be informed of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Update.

Each year, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) produces an Annual Review Letter for local authorities detailing the number, type and decisions made relating to each authority. The annual review letter for the period 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025 is attached to the LGSCO Annual Report.

The statistics provided with the Annual Review Letter show that for this period, the LGSCO received 16 complaints relating to services provided by this council and made decisions on 16 complaints. This compares to eleven received and nine decided for 2023 – 2024.

The table below details the categories of the complaints received and decisions made in each of the Ombudsman categories.

The table below shows the outcome of each decision.

The upheld complaint was regarding noise nuisance. The council was found at fault due to a delay in beginning a formal statutory nuisance investigation and providing conflicting information. The remedy was to apologise and to make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused by the faults.

Adjusted for our population, this represents 0.8 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. The average for similar councils is of 1.1 upheld decisions per 100,00 which means we are performing better than average.

The LGSCO has published anonymised details of the eight complaints relating to our Council which it reviewed and closed after making initial enquiries.

All Ombudsman complaints received by the council are reviewed to see if any changes in processes and policies are required.

Regarding the case where the council was found to be at fault, a revised process has been implemented, resulting in all noise complaints starting as a statutory nuisance investigation, together with the Licensing Enforcement Officer assisting in any informal resolution running alongside the noise investigation.

The LGSCO have issued their Complaint Handling Code as advice and guidance and intend to start considering the Code as part of their process from April 2026. Councils are encouraged to adopt the Code as soon as they can do so.

Customer Feedback – Half Year 2 - 2024/2025

The committee were scheduled to review the customer feedback report, which provides an overview of all types of customer feedback received between October – March 24/25.

The report stated that 305 complaints were logged at stage 1 with 42 being escalated to stage 2. 20 suggestions and 75 compliments or praise for services were also received.

The report noted that the overall volume of complaints received was high when compared to the same half of 23/24, but that there has been a decrease in the total number of complaints when compared to half 1 24/25.

The report also noted that the complaints responded to on time has declined and that this can be attributed to a higher volume of complaints being received, resource challenges, and previously there were some difficulties with the complaint's software, which have now been resolved.

The most common category of complaints is related to service delivery delays (24%), and standard/quality of officers' work (19%). Issues with customer communication (12%) Reports of officer conduct/attitude and service decisions or advice each made up 11%. Complaints about missed actions in service delivery (9%) and contractor work quality (8%) are notable as well.

Examples of actions taken in response to customer complaints included:

• Amending signage at Tolney Lane Riverside car park to include instructions to customers for them to continue to park for free without displaying the free parking ticket when the machines are out of use.
• Changes to process for updating Contractor of newly acquired properties, and additions to the gas contract.
• Updated Repairs Supervisors and emailed to ensure that operatives make safe damaged double-glazed units, even if only one pane is damaged.
• Creation of a meeting protocol for involved tenants, to outline conduct and behaviour expectations.
• Amending the wording for the payment option to clearly indicate the number of instalments being chosen.
• The Council has acknowledged the issue and agreed to explore the installation of an additional lidded litter bin in the centre of Fleming Drive Park to help manage waste more effectively

The report also noted that sixty-seven claims were awarded compensation in the period 01 October 2024 - 31 March 2025 (Half 2 2024/25) amounting to a total of £16,353; representing a 167% increase from the £6,135 paid out during the same period in 2023/24.

Code of Conduct Annual Report - 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025

The committee were scheduled to consider the Code of Conduct Annual Report for the Period 1 May 2024 – 30 April 2025.

The Governance, General Purposes and LGR Committee has responsibility for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by Members and co-opted Members of the Council. It is also responsible for maintaining an overview of the Member Code of Conduct and arrangements for dealing with complaints.

The total number of complaints received for the municipal year was 40; a comparable number to the previous reporting year, when 41 complaints were recorded.

The following is a summary of complaints received from 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025:

The following is a summary of outcomes in relation the 40 complaints received:

* It was determined following appropriate consultation with the Independent Persons that either no further action was required, or that informal resolution was appropriate.

The nature of complaints received is similar to previous years and can be summarised as follows: -

• Disrespect
• Bringing authority into disrepute
• Conduct at meetings
• Verbal abuse/outburst
• Breach of confidentiality
• Failure to register and declare interests
• Conflict of interest
• Bullying, harassment and discrimination
• Failure to act with integrity and honesty

17 complaints related to social media posts. A separate report regarding the Council's Social Media Policy for Councillors is due to be presented to the November meeting of this Committee, and it is proposed that a particular focus is given to social media at the next Code of Conduct refresher session for all Members.

No further action was taken in relation to 8 complaints that were considered politically motivated/tit for tat, and that it would not be in the public interest, or a good use of resource, to consider them further.

In relation to the District Council, the highest number of complaints made against an individual Councillor was 7. The highest number of complaints made by an individual complainant (a Councillor) was 13. In relation to parish and town councils, a number relate to underlying issues at one parish council.

In relation to the 4 complaints referred for investigation, this has been outsourced to an independent investigator who has now concluded their investigation.

Register of Interests Forms for Newark & Sherwood District Council Members are published on the Council's website. Town and Parish Councillors are also required to complete a Register of Interests Form, which are also published on the Council's website.

The Monitoring and Deputy Monitoring Officer delivered Code of Conduct training in November 2024 in conjunction with equalities training.

The Audit & Governance Committee responded to the Government's consultation on the Code of Conduct in February 2025. The consultation sought views on introducing a mandatory minimum code of conduct for local authorities in England, and measures to strengthen the standards and conduct regime in England to ensure consistency of approach amongst councils investigating serious breaches of their member codes of conduct, including the introduction of the power of suspension.

Under its 'Conduct and Public Service' workstream, Audit & Governance Committee noted (May 2025) that Officers were to explore the cost and resource implications of supporting the Local Government Association's Debate not Hate Campaign. A communications strategy is attached as an appendix for information and endorsement.

The Debate Not Hate campaign aims to raise public awareness of the role of councillors in their communities, encourage healthy debate and improve the responses and support for local politicians facing abuse and intimidation.

Remote Attendance at Meetings and Proxy Voting

The committee were scheduled to receive an update on the government consultation on remote attendance at meetings.

On 11 December 2024 the Audit & Governance Committee considered a report in relation to the Council's response to the Government consultation on remote attendance at meetings and proxy voting.

The purpose of the Government consultation had stemmed from a recognition that there were circumstances in which it may not always be possible for Members to attend council meetings in person.

The Government's intention was to amend the law to introduce provisions for remote attendance at local authority meetings and it was hoped that such flexibility would strike the right balance between in-person and remote attendance thereby encouraging a wider diversity of people will and able to stand and actively participate in local democracy.

The outcome of the consultation has now been published.

The government plan to legislate to support permanent provision in relation to both policies, when parliamentary time allows.

On remote attendance, they plan to permit local authorities to develop their own locally appropriate policies, if they decide to hold remote meetings.

On proxy voting, they plan to require principal (unitary, upper and second-tier) councils to implement proxy voting schemes, to provide consistency for Members who are absent when they become a new parent, or for serious or long-term illness. They plan for this requirement to apply to meetings of full council. For all other meetings, proxy voting may be used but will not be required and substitute or pairing schemes may be more appropriate. They plan for other local authorities not listed above to be enabled but not required to implement proxy voting schemes, for any of their meetings, in the context of member absences for serious or long-term illness or becoming a new parent.

Implementation will require updates to the Council's Constitution, and these will be brought to Committee for consideration once the legislative changes are published, in readiness for implementation when the legislation comes into force.