The Standards Committee of Kent Council was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 29 April 2026, to discuss the current standards regime and an update on member complaints. The meeting's agenda included a review of past minutes and a report detailing the number and nature of complaints received by the council.

Standards Regime and Member Complaints Update

A report was prepared for the committee to provide an update on formal complaints received under the Kent Code of Member Conduct. The report indicated that between 6 May 2025 and the end of March 2026, a total of 85 member complaints were received, averaging almost eight per month. October 2025 saw the highest number of complaints, with 18. Notably, complaints made by Members against other Members constituted 40% of all complaints received, rising to 72% in the first three months of 2026.

Of the 85 complaints, 95% had been closed or resolved informally, with 5% remaining under review. The report identified the main areas leading to complaints as:

• Comments made by Members on social media.
• Behaviour and comments during formal council meetings.
• The use of council resources.

The report also highlighted the appointment of Michael Turner as the new Independent Person on 1 March 2026, who provides advice and objectivity in complaint handling. Plans are in place to recruit a second Independent Person to ensure resilience. The committee was also informed of government plans to introduce significant changes to the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England, announced on 11 November 2025. The committee was asked to discuss the report and make recommendations on actions that could be taken to reduce the number of member complaints.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The committee was scheduled to review the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2025. The minutes from that meeting indicated that the Deputy Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, Mr. Ben Watts, had delivered a presentation covering good governance, revisions to the Members' Code of Conduct, emerging themes, enforcement, and education. The previous meeting also noted an increase in complaints against Members compared to similar periods, though the number remained lower than other local authorities. Suggestions were made at that meeting for Members to engage in open conversations about agenda items and work programming, and for the committee to potentially create a Standards Working Party Group to discuss member training and awareness of the Members' Code of Conduct.