The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council was scheduled to meet on Friday 30 January 2026 to consider updates on code of conduct complaints. The meeting agenda included a review of ongoing complaints and the potential exclusion of the public for the discussion of exempt or confidential information related to specific complaint references.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on complaints received by Durham County Council under the Code of Conduct for Members. This report, prepared by Helen Bradley, Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, detailed the status of ongoing complaints and those that had been completed since the previous meeting on 8 January 2026. The report indicated that between 19 December 2025 and 21 January 2026, three new complaints were received. Officers were preparing reports for two of these, scheduled for consideration on 17 February 2026, while the third remained at the pre-assessment stage. The report also noted that five complaints received prior to 19 December 2025 were scheduled for consideration at this meeting, with two others deferred to 17 February 2026. Two complaints received prior to 19 December 2025 had been rejected as they did not engage the Code of Conduct.

The report highlighted that the Council has a duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011¹ to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by its members and to adopt a Code of Conduct consistent with the Nolan Principles². The Council must also have arrangements in place to consider allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct for its own members and for members of town and parish councils for which Durham County Council is the principal authority. The report recommended that the Standards Assessment Board note the contents of the update.

The meeting was also scheduled to consider several specific complaint references in Part B of the agenda, which would involve the exclusion of the public due to the likely disclosure of exempt or confidential information. These included complaint references FS-Case-764985099, FS-Case-767485055, FS-Case-770072560, FS-Case-763200402, and FS-Case-770701488.