Council adopts revised arrangements for handling complaints against councillors after 50 received in less than two years
The standards committee at Spelthorne Borough Council has adopted revised arrangements for dealing with complaints against councillors after 50 were received in less than two years.
Under the previous arrangements at Spelthorne, there had been an expectation that the Monitoring Officer would refer all but the most obviously vexatious, frivolous or politically motivated complaints to an Assessment Panel comprising three members of the authority’s Standards Committee.
Of the 50 complaints received during the period January 2020 - November 2021, 38 were dismissed by the Monitoring Officer and 12 were sent to an Assessment Panel. Two further complaints have since been received.
The council’s Monitoring Officer recommended to the Assessment Panel that no further action was necessary in the case of eight matters and that four matters should be referred for further investigation. The Assessment Panel agreed with the Monitoring Officer’s recommendation in every case.
In a report given to Spelthorne’s Standards Committee last week (16 March), Monitoring Officer Victoria Statham said: “Dealing with the vast number of complaints has shown that the arrangements for dealing with complaints need to be updated and refined.”
The report added: “The process of setting up and convening several Assessment Panels for those 12 matters was time consuming and resulted in considerable delays in matters being heard. This has resulted in some loss of confidence in the current arrangements by members.”
The committee was given three options:
- Adopt the revised arrangements
- Amend the revised arrangements
- Retain the existing arrangements
Spelthorne had already adopted - in 2021 - the revised Local Government Association Model Councillor Code of Conduct, which followed a review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL). The CSPL also made recommendations for a framework in dealing with complaints in order to ensure consistency and enhance public confidence in the process.
The proposed revised arrangements put forward to the Standards Committee at Spelthorne last week were based on Local Government Association Guidance arising out of the CSPL recommendations and best practice.
In order to satisfy the authority that an initial assessment of complaints can be carried out "fairly, objectively and without undue delay", it was proposed under the revised arrangements that the Monitoring Officer be delegated to undertake a 2-step assessment, described by the CSPL as the ‘can/should’ stages, based on specified criteria.
Statham told the meeting: “There is a framework for the monitoring officer to look at those complaints rather than what we have at the moment which is just [whether they are] ‘frivolous, vexatious or politically motivated’. It sets out a more detailed framework with more detailed provisions in making those decisions.
"That makes it easier for the monitoring officer to make those decisions and feel more comfortable in that decision making and it also gives members and members of the standards committees confidence in how the decisions are being made because there are clear processes out there.”
The proposed revised arrangements incorporated other processes detailed in the Guidance:
(a) Improved timescales for assessing complaints
(b) An alternative process for assessment of a complaint by a panel of members where the Monitoring Officer considers it appropriate based on specified criteria
(c) No right of appeal against a decision not to take any further action in order to operate an efficient and proportionate system.
(d) Consultation with the Independent Person at every stage before a proposed course of action is followed
(e) Best practice for conducting investigations and producing a final report
The standards committee meeting can be viewed here.
