The Standards Committee of Swale Borough Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, 23 September 2025, to discuss several key items, including the member-officer protocol, member development, and code of conduct arrangements. The meeting will take place in the Council Chamber at Swale House in Sittingbourne. Councillors Monique Bonney, Angela Harrison, Chair of the Committee, and James Hunt, Vice-Chair of the Committee, are among the members of the committee.

Code of Conduct Arrangements

The committee is expected to review and discuss the draft code of conduct arrangements. These arrangements outline the process for handling complaints against elected or co-opted members, or Parish/Town councillors, who may have breached the Code of Conduct.

The report pack includes a Standards Report 2025.09.23 re Code of Conduct arrangements, which recommends that the committee:

• Considers the draft code of conduct arrangements and makes any necessary amendments.
• Authorises the Monitoring Officer to consult with all members on the content of the arrangements.
• Delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to make further amendments after the consultation, in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee.
• Recommends the arrangements to Full Council after the consultation.

The council adopted a new code of conduct in February 2023, based on the Local Government Association (LGA)'s Model Code of Conduct¹. The arrangements for handling complaints have remained unchanged since then. The LGA provides guidance on handling code of conduct complaints, which has been used to create consistent arrangements.

The draft arrangements are based on those agreed by the Kent Secretaries, and are widely used across Kent. The committee is asked to consult with all members, as all members can be affected by the operation of the arrangements.

The report pack includes a document called Appendix I - Draft Arrangements with Comments, which contains the draft arrangements and member comments.

The arrangements include the following sections:

• Context
• Interpretation
• Appointment of Independent Person
• Making a complaint
• Criminal conduct
• Anonymous complaints
• Role of Independent Person
• Preliminary tests
• Informal resolution
• Investigation
• Hearing
• Sanctions
• Appeal
• Discontinuance of Action
• Revision of these Arrangements
• Annexes

Member-Officer Protocol

The committee is scheduled to discuss the member-officer protocol, which sets out the roles of members and officers and regulates relations between them. The Standards 2025.09.23 Report Review Member Officer Protocol recommends that the committee considers whether the protocol remains fit for purpose and proposes amendments if needed. It also recommends delegating authority to the Monitoring Officer to make amendments in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee, with a further review in 12 months.

The report pack states that Swale Council did not have a member/officer protocol until last year, even though the council's code of conduct referred to one. A final draft went to the Standards Committee in December 2023, and Full Council adopted it on 3 April 2024. Amendments were agreed in December 2024, and the document was published at the beginning of 2025.

The intention of the council was for the protocol to be reviewed in relation to its operation in real world circumstances. The report pack states that this is not practical at the present time, due to there being insufficient data to draw meaningful conclusions from.

The Appendix I - Member Officer Protocol guides members and officers in their relations with one another, emphasising fairness, honesty, and good faith. It covers the roles of members and officers, communication, officer impartiality, service standards, confidentiality, officer relations with specific members, officer attendance at political group meetings, friendships/relationships between members and officers, use of council resources, and criticism and complaints.

The protocol states:

Members must not do anything which compromises or is likely to compromise officers' impartiality.

Member Development Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on member training events conducted during the civic years 2023/24 and 2024/25. The Draft Standards Member Development Covering Report - Sept 25 summarises the training sessions into three topics: mandatory training, other training sessions, and member briefings. It also provides an overview of planning training sessions held in the current civic year (2025/26) and outlines the action plan that the Member Development Working Group will follow during the current Members' term.

In May 2023, Democratic Services surveyed all councillors to identify the most appropriate times and dates for training sessions. Based on this, the Member Development Working Group formulated a schedule of training events for the 2023/24 civic year, while developing the Member Development Strategy. Full Council agreed to the Member Development Strategy in October 2024, to ensure that all members have the necessary skills and knowledge to best serve their community.

The Draft Appendix I Overview of Member Training sessions 2023-24 and 2024-25 provides an overview of member training sessions. During 2023-24, there were 19 training sessions, including mandatory training, other training sessions requested by councillors or officers, and briefing sessions. In 2024-25, there were 24 training sessions, with a similar breakdown.

The report pack notes that for both Planning and Licensing Committees, there are sufficiently trained members from all political groups for those political groups that are entitled to the seat.

Other Business

The agenda for the meeting also includes:

• Emergency Evacuation Procedure
• Apologies for Absence
• Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 July 2025
• Declarations of Interest
• Forward Plan
• Standards Complaints - verbal update
• Update on Members Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks
• Recruitment of Independent Persons - verbal update