Audit & Standards Committee
Agenda Item 38
Subject: Standards Update, including annual review of member complaints
Date of meeting: 30th January 2024
Report of: Executive Director, Governance, People & Resources and Monitoring Officer
Contact Officer: Victoria Simpson, Senior Lawyer – Corporate Law
Tel: 01273 294687
Email: Victoria.Simpson@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All
1.1. To provide an update on Standards-related matters, including a review of complaints received in during 2023 alleging that Members have breached the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members.
2.1. That the Audit & Standards Committee note the contents of this report.
3.1. The Council is required by the Localism Act 2011 to have in place arrangements for dealing with complaints against elected and co-opted Members. Brighton & Hove City Council regularly reviews the arrangements it has in place, including its Code of Conduct for Members and related Procedure and guidance. It is transparent about those arrangements, which it publishes on its website. It also makes data regarding the complaints received in about member conduct publicly available via the reports to this Committee.
3.2. Members will be aware that since the passing of the Localism Act 2011, Standards Committees have no power to suspend a Member where there has been a finding that the Code has been breached. The options are limited to censuring a Member and/or taking measures such as recommending training -which the subject Member is free to accept or reject. The Government’s response in March 2022 to the detailed 2019 review carried out by the Committee on Standards in Public Life on local government standards indicates that the current Government does not plan to make any substantive legislative changes to this framework.
3.3. At Brighton & Hove City Council, the Audit & Standards Committee has delegated authority for leading in discharging the statutory requirement that the Council maintain and promote high standards of conduct by Members. This Committee receives quarterly reports on complaints against members as well as information on the training and briefings offered to assist Members in discharging their responsibilities according to the expectations of the Nolan Principles.
3.4. This quarterly Report provides data on the complaints both still outstanding at the time of the last Report, and those which have been received in since then. In this way, the Report seeks to provide reassurance that recent complaints are being considered and dealt with pursuant to the Council’s processes.
3.5. It also provides data on complaints received in during the 2023 calendar year with a view to enabling members to better assess the overall picture.
3.6. Members are asked to note the contents of the Report and to make any comments or suggestions they wish, including regarding the ongoing challenges of dealing with the complaints received in by this authority in a context of budgetary pressures.
4. Data re Member Complaints
Complaints previously reported to this Committee
4.1. In accordance with the last report to this Committee, this data is provided in the attached Appendix 1, at table 1.
4.2. It will be noted that all of the complaints reported on in the September Update have now been determined, the majority of them by decisions by the Monitoring Officer (having consulted with one of the Council’s three Independent Persons) to take no action at preliminary assessment stage.
Complaints received in since the last Update, in September 2023
4.3. This data is provided in table 2 of Appendix 1.
4.4. All of the complaints referred to in this section are being progressed by the Monitoring Officer in accordance with the Procedure which governs member complaints.
Annual review of Member Complaints
4.5. This Report seeks to provide annual review data which may be read alongside the Report on this same topic published this time last year. The data provided in Appendix 2 offers a flavour of the volume of complaints made about elected members during 2023 and on their subject matter. There is no legal requirement to make member complaint data publicly available and – in a context where this Council goes much further than many others in terms of the information it makes available - data from other authorities is limited. That said, past attempts at benchmarking have consistently indicated that more complaints appear to be made to Brighton & Hove City Council appear to be made than at comparator authorities. It may be relevant to see this phenomenon in the context of the high degree of democratic engagement which is so much a feature in this City.
4.6. The Appendix provides an indication of the subject matter of complaints, which continue to be spread across the full range of activities carried out by elected Members in their capacity as Council and ward Members. In terms of other comments: complaints continue to vary not just in terms of complexity but also seriousness. All complaints are reported as such, including those which do not meet the initial tests in the Procedure. whether because there is insufficient evidence to support them or for another reason.
4.7. Otherwise, and in a context where the composition of the Council changed significantly midway through the calendar year (following the May 2023 local elections), Members are simply asked to note this Report.
5. Member Training
Finance officer consulted: Nigel Manvell Date consulted: 14/1/24
Name of lawyer consulted: Victoria Simpson Date consulted 08/01/24
11.1. There are no equalities implications arising from this Report. It provides reassurance on the arrangements which have been developed with the need to ensure the Council and its members discharge their responsibilities with appropriate regard for equalities considerations in mind.
Supporting Documentation
1. Appendix 1 – data on member complaints
2. Appendix 2 – annual overview of complaints, showing data from 2023