Seventeen complaints involving members of Peterborough City Council are being investigated by the council’s monitoring officers. The number of complaints outstanding was given to members of the constitution and ethics committee on September 30.
Neil McArthur, director of legal and governance and monitoring officer, listed the complaints. He said these are:
One complaint involves an allegation that the financial stability of charity was put at risk.
One complaint relates to comments made at a full council meeting
One complaint relates to a letter sent to another councillor
Six complaints relate to allegations of discriminatory, inappropriate, or insulting language, or gestures
Six complaints relate to impropriety arising from attendance at an event
One complaint alleges the misuse of council resources
One complaint relates to postal vote handling
Mr McArthur said in his report: “We expect to conclude most of the above investigations before the next meeting of the committee.”
The council calendar shows the next meeting of the committee is scheduled for 6pm on November 18.
“There are currently no new complaints in relation to parish councillors,” he said.
The monitoring officer reminded the committee that its role is to “oversee and approve the operation of the council’s functions relating to the promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct amongst members and co-opted members including monitoring the operation of the Code of Conduct.
“The committee has previously agreed that an update on Code of Conduct complaints should be a standing item on the agenda for each of its meetings.
“The committee also decided that these should be reported in an anonymous way until such time as a breach of the code of conduct is found as part of the complaints process”
He said that since the committee last met (on July 29th) he had received no new complaints relating to city councillors.
“Two complaints have been closed since the last meeting of the committee on the basis that the matters complained of did not fall within the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct,” he said.
Mr McArthur reminded councillors that the process for dealing with conduct complaints requires him to consult the Independent Person following an initial assessment and before any decisions are taken as to what if any further action is considered appropriate.
He added: “Regular reporting of both quantities and substance of complaints will help the committee gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of current procedures and how well the Code is being observed across both the council and parish councils in its area.
“This will inform future decisions about what training may be necessary to ensure the requirements of the code are being met.”
The monitoring officer of Peterborough City Council confirms there are 17 outstanding Code of Conduct complaints. Photo (full council meeting) by Terry Harris
