The Values and Ethics Sub-Committee of Bristol City Council met on 6 October 2025 to discuss a summary of complaints against councillors and to allow members of the public to address the committee. The Sub-Committee was scheduled to note a report on the complaints made against councillors since September 2023. Time was also allocated for members of the public to make statements or ask questions.

Summary of Complaints Against Councillors

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to review a report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, summarising complaints made against councillors since the last report to the committee in September 2023. The report was intended to fulfil the commitment to provide an annual report detailing complaints against members of the council, as agreed by the committee in March 2021.

The report pack notes that the Localism Act 2011 requires the council to:

promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the authority and to adopt a code dealing with the conduct that is expected of members and co-opted members of the authority when they are acting in that capacity.

Bristol City Council's code of conduct was updated in 2023 to incorporate the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership. The council has appointed three independent people to provide advice on complaints.

The summary included in the report pack covers all complaints received since September 2023, up to 24 September 2025. Some complaints were still unresolved at the time of the report. The report pack also notes that some complaints have been withdrawn or ruled out as not being within the remit of the complaints process. The report pack states that further details about complaints received, or the outcomes of complaints, cannot be provided because the process is confidential, and only complaints that have been upheld are published. The report pack notes that no findings of breach of the code of conduct have been made during this time.

Appendix 1 of the report pack contains a table summarising the complaints received between September 2023 and September 2025. The table includes the date the complaint was received, whether it was accepted or rejected, whether an Independent Person was appointed, the outcome of the initial assessment, any actions recommended, the date the recommendation was complied with, the date of the decision, the time from receipt to decision, a summary of the complaint, and a case reference.

The summaries of complaints include:

• Use of social media, respecting each other and breach of planning
• Respect for others
• Article by Councillor appearing to attack or bully a member of the public
• False, inaccurate and misleading statements in articles in newsletters
• Alleged inaccurate reporting of conditions following travellers leaving a specific location
• Lack of impartiality in posts in relation to travellers and failure to challenge comments of the public on posts
• Complaint about a social media post that showed lack of respect
• Lack of impartiality, failure to chair/conduct a meeting properly, failure to change perceived Islamaphobic comments
• Reposting discriminatory message on social media
• Councillor made allegations that complainant was racist
• Register of Interest not showing travel or hospitality paid by an external organisation
• Discriminatory comments at Cabinet meeting
• Aggressive behaviour towards another Councillor
• Discriminatory comments at a Cabinet meeting
• Conflict of interest
• Sharing discriminatory comments on social media
• Aggressive behaviour at council meeting
• Statement about East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood
• Councillor presented inaccurate information to full council as part of a motion/debate - Withdrawn
• Councillor comments to another Councillor at Committee meeting.
• Discriminatory language and conduct towards a member of the public.
• Councillor deleted comments and blocked complainant on social media.
• Councillor's conduct at meetings.
• Alleged inaccurate comments during interview
• Misleading responses to public forum questions at Council Meeting and during video interview
• Offensive comments made during a Committee meeting
• Breach of Data protection and preferential treatment of a member of the public
• Council's approach following the Supreme court decision
• Conduct towards others during a Committee Meeting
• Failure to respond to emails raising crime and safety concerns.
• Conflict of interest

Public Forum

The agenda allowed up to 30 minutes for the public forum. Members of the public and councillors could participate by submitting questions, statements, or petitions. The deadline for questions was 5pm on 30 September 2025, and for petitions and statements, 12 noon on 2 October 2025. Submissions were to be respectful, factual, and relevant. The Public Information Sheet outlines the procedure for public forum, including the requirements for submissions and conduct during the meeting.