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Standards and Personnel Appeals Committee - Tuesday, 7th October, 2025 7.00 pm
October 7, 2025 View on council websiteSummary
The Standards and Personnel Appeals Committee of Ashfield District Council met on Tuesday, 7th October 2025. The committee was scheduled to discuss an update on ethical governance, and a review of the council's complaints procedure. Councillor Lee Waters, Chairman of the Council was scheduled to chair the meeting.
Complaints Procedure Review
The committee was scheduled to review the council's complaints procedure, which sets out the steps for dealing with Member Code of Conduct Complaints in accordance with the Localism Act 20111. The current process was attached as Appendix A to the Public Reports Pack.
The report pack noted that a recent audit of member complaints had highlighted areas for improvement, including:
- How complaints are recorded and monitored.
- Target timeframes for implementing informal resolutions.
- Target timeframes for the completion of an investigation.
- Target timeframes for the convening of a hearing following a final investigation report.
The report pack stated that performance against these targets should be reported. It also noted that a number of options were being explored for the recording and monitoring of data, including reviewing the current database and exploring whether any of the corporate systems could be adapted to accommodate Member Code of Conduct Complaints.
The committee was asked to consider where improvements could be made to both the policy and process for dealing with member complaints.
Quarterly Ethical Governance Update
The committee was scheduled to receive a quarterly update on ethical governance. This included updates on member's code of conduct complaints up until the end of quarter 2, 2025 (July 2025 to September 2025) and gifts and hospitality declarations up until the end of quarter 2, 2025 (July 2025 to September 2025).
The report pack recommended that the committee note the updated position in respect of member's code of conduct complaints and gifts and hospitality declarations.
The report pack noted that there had been four new member complaints submitted between July and September 2025. All four related to district councillors, two were submitted by members of the public and related to social media posts and two submitted by ADC staff.
Two complaints remained ongoing from the last update in June 2025, with one of these remaining a long term complaint that was referred to an external investigator.
The following table details the complaints that were under consideration:
| REF | DATE COMPLAINT RECEIVED BY MONITORING OFFICER | SUBMITTED BY | COMPLAINT ABOUT A DISTRICT OR PARISH COUNCILLOR | ALLEGED BREACH | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADC2024 - 05 | 2/8/2024 | Public | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. 1.1 Respect 2.1 Bullying | Ongoing – External Investigator |
| ADC2025 - 03 | 22/05/2025 | Public | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. 2.7 Disrepute | Completed subject to consideration by Independent Person |
| ADC2025 - 04 | 25/06/2025 | Staff | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. | Awaiting further information from complainant |
| ADC2025 - 05 | 26/07/2025 | Public | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. (Social Media Post) | Awaiting further information from complainant |
| ADC2025 - 06 | 18/07/2025 | Public | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. (Social Media Post) | Currently being reviewed |
| ADC2025 - 07 | 23/09/2025 | Member of Staff | District Councillor | 2.2 Contrary to high standards of conduct. | Currently being reviewed |
The committee was also advised that there had been no gifts and hospitality declarations made between July 2025 to September 2025.
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The Localism Act 2011 is a UK Act of Parliament that altered the powers of local government in England. Its main aims were to devolve more power to local councils and communities, and to give local people more control over planning and development in their area. ↩
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