Standards Committee - 30 July 2026

The Standards Committee began by electing Councillor Jenkin as Chairman and Councillor P Mitchell as Vice-Chairman. Councillor Jenkin confirmed she wished to be addressed as Kaderyer when chairing meetings. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved with corrections, including amendments to names, the spelling of “Kaderyer,” and a revised wording regarding a Town Council Representative’s appointment.

The committee noted the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Complaints Report. Members discussed ongoing delays in the Ombudsman process, particularly for Together for Families and Adult Social Care complaints, and sought assurance that lessons learned were being implemented. A view was expressed that achieving the correct outcome for customers was more important than speed. Officers also outlined a proposed new format for future complaints reporting, which the committee welcomed while emphasising the need to retain access to detailed underlying information.

The Ethical Standards Complaints Report for Q1 2026–2027 was noted. Debate covered the distinction between numbers of complaints and underlying incidents, concerns about coordinated social media complaints potentially amounting to political campaigning, and the importance of providing councillors with timely advice on standards matters. Officers reported that many authorities had seen similar increases in complaint levels, and agreed to bring comparative information to a future meeting. An inaccuracy in the report regarding a named subject member was acknowledged, and clarification was given on how confidentiality requests were handled.

The committee approved its work programme for July 2026 to April 2027. It re-established working groups on recruitment to the Standards Committee and on the Code of Conduct, assessment procedures, and the Guide to Bullying and Intimidation. It paused work on the working groups examining Ombudsman complaints relating to Adult Social Care and Together for Families, pending a review at the next meeting, partly due to uncertainty about government proposals for a standardised ethical standards regime.

Finally, the committee considered an advisory motion referred to it concerning the Code of Conduct and complaints procedures. Members noted that the Localism Act 2011 required the Council to maintain such procedures, and expressed concern that