Agenda item

The Committee considered the Monitoring Officers’ report by the Deputy Monitoring Officer and advised that since previous reporting the following complaints had been received and dealt with:

• Five member-to-member complaints, all resolved and all assessed as not conduct matters.
• One public complaint against a Member, which had been resolved.
• One complaint against a parish councillor, which had been resolved.
• One complaint by a parish council against a Member, which had been assessed and found not to be a conduct matter.
• A further complaint from a member of the public against a parish councillor had recently been received and was being assessed, most likely with a view to informal resolution.

It was also explained that there was a new section in the quarterly report concerning whistleblowing. Although no whistleblowing complaints had been received, it was advised that such matters would be reported quarterly and also monitored through the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) governance arrangements.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer also updated Members on the Constitution Review Working Group which had met on 10th July 2026.  Members noted that any recommendations would go to the Council meeting held on 15^th July 2026.

The Committee were also advised that the Member Development Steering Group had discussed the following:

• Social media training which had been identified as useful and was incorporated into the Code of Conduct training.
• Possible future regional social media training via the Local Government Association.
• Completion by all Members of cyber security training.
• Forthcoming AI training.

During Member’s consideration of the item, the following key points were discussed:

• How were staff made aware that the whistleblowing policy existed? – In response the Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that there had recently been a session at a management meeting where managers were reminded of the whistleblowing policy and those managers were expected to remind members of their team.
• A Member expressed the view that the level of complaints appeared high within the report, showing 15 member-to-member complaints in roughly 15 months amongst 31 members. It was questioned whether this was a good use of officer time and suggested Members should reflect on whether standards of behaviour could be improved.  The Chairman agreed and commented that group leaders should discuss behaviour with their party groups and consider how Members might be “kinder to one another”, indicating that this might appropriately form a recommendation.
• The Portfolio Holder for Finance requested clarity on the complaint statistics and expressed the view that the data wasn’t very clear. – In response the Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that she intended to hold a meeting with the relevant portfolio holder to discuss how best to present the data, without disclosing confidential complaint details. 
• Members discussed the report’s mention of Artificial Intelligence (AI) training and asked whether the Council had future plans to use AI when preparing committee reports.  It was also noted that Members had received a very large agenda pack and questioning whether such large packs were still necessary.  The Chairman added that Members could make better use of current digital tools such as ModGov.

RESOLVED that

1)    Group Leaders to discuss whether standards of behaviour could be improved with Members;

2)    The Deputy Monitoring Officer to discuss suitable reporting of complaints received with the portfolio holder; and

3)    Subject to Members’ comments, the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee was assured regarding the Monitoring

Officer’s Report.