Agenda item

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the Monitoring Officer's report for Members' consideration. Members were advised that, for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, two complaints had been received from members of the public against two elected Members. Neither complaint had passed the initial assessment stage. In addition, all complaints that had been reported to the previous meeting and remained unresolved at that time had since been concluded through informal resolution.

For the period starting 1 April 2026, one anonymous complaint had been received against a Member and referred to the Police. The Police had determined not to investigate the matter, and no further action had been taken. Two Member-to-Member complaints had also been received. One did not pass the initial assessment stage, the other matter was ongoing. A further eight complaints had been received from members of the public. Four complaints had been made against one Member and two complaints against another Member, none of which had met the initial assessment threshold. Of the two further complaints, one complaint had subsequently been withdrawn and one had been assessed as not constituting a Code of Conduct matter.

The Committee was advised that information regarding whistleblowing had now been incorporated into the report. Members were informed that two whistleblowing reports had been received during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Whilst neither allegation had been upheld, one investigation had identified opportunities for improvements in the Council’s procedure for dealing with whistleblowing.

For the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, one whistleblowing report had been received and investigated, with the allegations not being upheld. It was reported that all future whistleblowing reports would be reported to both the Senior Leadership Team and the Committee. Members also noted that awareness raising had taken place amongst managers regarding the Council's whistleblowing policy and reporting procedures.

The Committee received updates regarding the work of the Member Support Steering Group and the Constitution Review Working Party, together with a summary of Member training delivered since the local elections.

During consideration of the report, a Member queried whether whistleblowing reports were monitored to identify recurring themes or trends. It was suggested that, whilst details of individual cases should remain confidential, information regarding broad categories of concerns could assist Members in identifying emerging issues and areas for organisational learning. In response, the Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that whistleblowing reports were recorded and reported to the Council’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), but any proposal to provide thematic reporting to the Committee would need to be considered further. It was agreed that this would be referred for consideration by the SLT.

Questions were also raised regarding the feedback provided to complainants where complaints did not pass the initial assessment stage. Members were advised that complainants were provided with an explanation outlining why the complaint had not progressed beyond initial assessment, including an explanation in cases where the matter did not pass initial assessment because it was identified that an elected Member was not acting in their official capacity.

A Member commented on the low turnout at some of the Member training sessions and the potential need to re-run some of the training sessions set out in the report, The Member highlighted the importance of ensuring Members attended the training to ensure value was maximised in terms of training resources and officer time.

RESOLVED that

the Monitoring Officer’s report be noted.