The Standards Assessment Sub-Committee was scheduled to convene to review the minutes from their previous meeting and to assess two complaints regarding the conduct of councillors. The meeting was also scheduled to discuss excluding the public while they discussed the complaints.

Complaint Assessments

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to assess two complaints regarding the conduct of councillors:

• COC53378: The report pack included documentation regarding a complaint for assessment.
• COC53508: The report pack included documentation regarding a complaint for assessment.

Exclusion of the Public

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider a resolution to exclude the public from the meeting during discussion of the complaint assessments. The reason cited for this potential exclusion was to prevent the disclosure of exempt information, specifically, information relating to an individual as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972¹. The report pack stated that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it.

Meeting Procedure

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to note the procedure for the meeting, as detailed in the Assessment Sub-Committee Procedure 2024. The procedure outlines the framework for how assessments are conducted and explains the roles of participants. Key aspects of the procedure include:

• The assessment is based on information presented to the Sub-Committee and is not a hearing of the complaint itself.
• The Sub-Committee may exclude the public if there is likely to be disclosure of exempt information.
• The Complainant and Subject Member may attend the Sub-Committee.
• If a party does not attend the meeting, the assessment will proceed in their absence.
• The Complainant and the Subject Member will be permitted up to three minutes to make a statement.
• The Monitoring Officer will provide reports on any complaint that is to be assessed.
• The Sub-Committee may take into account written representations made by a party since the publication of the agenda.
• No questioning of the parties will be permitted, other than by the Sub-Committee to seek clarification of any point that has been made.
• The Sub-Committee will normally withdraw to consider the case.
• The Sub-Committee will have regard to the views of an Independent Person before making any decision.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2025².