The Standards Committee of Slough Borough Council is scheduled to meet on 8th October 2025 to discuss updates on code of conduct complaints, the member development programme, and the standards and conduct framework for local authorities. The committee will also review the schedule of code of conduct complaints and a government consultation on strengthening standards and conduct.

Schedule of Code of Conduct Complaints

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the progress of councillor complaints made under the Councillor's Code of Conduct since the last meeting on 20 March 2025.

According to the agenda report, there are currently two formal complaints from the 2024/25 municipal year that remain in progress. One complaint (2425/03) has experienced delays due to workload pressures for the Monitoring Officer, but is currently under investigation. The second complaint (2425/04) is also under investigation, following a discussion with the Independent Person, Raymond Tomkinson.

There is also one formal complaint (2526/01) that has been lodged in the 2025/26 municipal year. The Monitoring Officer will consider the investigation report that has recently been received.

The report also notes that several other 'complain about a councillor' forms were submitted, but these related to officer or service issues and were referred to corporate complaints.

The committee is also scheduled to receive an update on complaint reference (2324/07 and 2324/08), regarding alleged aggressive and inappropriate behaviour by Councillor Iftakhar Ahmed. The Local Government Association (LGA) has been commissioned to provide training requested by the Standards Committee at its meeting on 11 March 2025.

Strengthening the Standards and Conduct Framework

The committee is scheduled to discuss a government consultation on strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England. The consultation suggests the government is in favour of introducing stronger sanctions and making other changes to the standards regime, including to committees and the requirements for transparency of the outcome of complaints about councillors.

The main elements proposed in the consultation include:

• A mandatory minimum code of conduct: The government has signalled its intention to introduce a prescribed model code which covers important issues such as discrimination, bullying, and harassment, social media use, public conduct when claiming to represent the council, and use of authority resources could help to uphold consistently high standards of public service in councils across the country and convey the privileged position of public office. It could also provide clarity for the public on the consistent baseline of ethical behaviour they have a right to expect.
• A requirement for formal standards committees: All principal authorities would be required to convene formal standards committees to make decisions on code of conduct breaches and publish the outcomes of all formal investigations. The consultation asked for views on whether standards committees should be required to have at least one Independent Person, including whether an Independent Person should have voting rights and/or chair the committee. It was also proposed that local authorities should be required to publish annually a list of allegations of code of conduct breaches and any investigation outcomes.
• The power to suspend councillors: All local authorities (including combined authorities) could be given the power to suspend councillors or mayors found in serious breach of their code of conduct, and to impose interim suspensions for the most serious and complex cases that may involve police investigations. Councils would also be able to suspend allowances paid to suspended councillors.
• A new category of disqualification: A new category of disqualification would be introduced for gross misconduct and for those subject to a sanction of suspension more than once in a 5 year period.
• A role for a national body to deal with appeals: There would be a right of appeal for any councillor suspended, which must be accessed within five days of the decision to suspend. It is expected that this would be heard by a (new or existing) national body.

The government is still considering the feedback from the consultation and is expected to publish its response in the coming months.

Member Development Programme

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the Member Development Programme 2025-26. The programme has been designed to allow councillors to build on their existing knowledge and skills base, and to meet the council's improvement goals.

According to the agenda report, the bulk of training continues to be provided in house, with a mixture of online and in-person sessions. Some sessions will be facilitated by external providers, such as the Local Government Association (LGA).

Since May 2025, there have been 15 sessions held covering finance, planning, licensing and Audit Committee. There have also been sessions to support scrutiny, such as questioning skills, as well as a chairing skills session and a session dealing with collaborative working by members and officers. In addition, a series of Public Health briefings have been held.

The report notes that there have been some challenges with attendance at the support sessions provided. Officers are working with Group Leaders to ensure the sessions are relevant and attendance is maximised. A new feedback monitoring form was introduced in September, and the information provided will be used to inform future sessions as well as to capture changes in approach and behaviours.

Every effort is being made to convene a meeting of the Member Development Working Group in October 2025, where attendance and feedback will be discussed in more detail.