Review calls for changes and additional resources at council over length of time taken to address code of conduct complaints

Northumberland County Council has been criticised in a governance review over the time it has taken to deal with complaints under the councillors’ code of conduct.

An independent desktop review by Simon Goacher, a partner at law firm Weightmans, was commissioned by a Local Government Association (LGA) advisory challenge board, which was set up after a highly critical report by local government consultant Max Caller found Northumberland had "lost its way" amid internal battles.

Goacher’s report reviewed 10 code of conduct investigations for which the council had instructed law firm Freeths and three by regulatory consultancy ch&i associates.

“We concluded that the length of time it took to complete the assessments / investigations was far longer than would be best practice or we would expect,” the report said.

There were though mitigating factors relating to cultural issues, changes in the monitoring officer and deputy roles and the complexity of complaints, which delayed the investigations.

He said no blame attached to either investigating firm.

Reports produced by Freeths made it clear “they had difficulties in engagement from the parties and also had to deal in some of the complaints with goalposts being moved in the course of their work”.

It was also clear “that it took a significant amount of time after the complaints were received for ch&i to be instructed”.

The report said Northumberland should review the resources available to the monitoring officer to deal with complaints and ensure deputy monitoring officers were provided with training on the assessment of complaints and investigations.

Where a deputy was appointed because of a conflict of interest affecting the monitoring officer they should report direct to the chief executive.

There should also be an annual report on complaints sent to the standards committee, Mr Goacher said.

He was critical of how Northumberland’s code had developed, noting: “In our view, all changes other than amending any minor typographical errors should be approved by full council.

“There should certainly not be a situation where changes are being made without clarity on who approved them.”

The report recorded a notable improvement in Northumberland’s complaint handling times.

Average days to conclusion of completed cases fell from 274 in 2020 to 132 last year while average days since start of outstanding complaints reduced from 840 to 367. There has only been one complaint so far in 2023.

Mark Smulian