Agenda item

7.1

Gillian Duckworth (Director of Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer) presented the report.

7.2

The report gave information on the volume of complaints made against councillors during 2019 and 2020. It also set out the role of the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Persons and it was noted that the LGA had now published its Model Code of Conduct and this would be compared against the newly approved Code of Conduct and brought back to the next committee.

7.3

Councillor Angela Argenzio noted that it was good to see the comparison in the number of complaints received against councillors and asked if it was possible to get a breakdown of internal/external complaints and a breakdown by party.  Gillian informed the Committee that the information provided was the same as in previous years, but further analysis could be provided in future years providing that the numbers were not so small the identity of the subject would be revealed.  Only one complaint had been made by another Councillor.  The Monitoring Officer tried to resolve councillor complaints against other councillors.  The majority of complaints against councillors were made by members of the public.  Of the complaints received this year, 17 were against Sheffield City Councillors and 21 were against Parish Councillors.  There were multiple complaints about the same issue.

7.4

Councillor Simon Clement-Jones said that there had been a 50% jump in the number of complaints received and asked what was behind the trend.  Gillian Duckworth explained that there had been multiple complaints regarding the same incident and the numbers did not reflect the true picture.

7.5

The Chair asked the Independent Persons present what their experience was like working with the Council on councillor complaints.  David Waxman (Independent Person) informed Committee that it wasn’t an onerous task.  The volume of complaints wasn’t high.  The Government Framework needed revising and advised that Members should be more circumspect in their use of social media.  Jo Cairns (Independent Person) explained that the information received from officers to consider complaints was second to none.  Alison Howard (Independent Co-Opted Member) was pleasantly surprised at the small number of complaints which was a testament to how complaints were handled by the Monitoring Officer. 

7.6

The Chair felt that more training and development was required for Members.  The volume of work had increased and there were now more channels of communication.

7.7

Councillor Adam Hurst asked whether the Council was recording informal complaints and how they were dealt with.  Gillian Duckworth explained that the report showed all complaints received.  An informal resolution could be training or referral to the Whips, for example.

7.8

RESOLVED: That (1) the Committee receives and notes this report acknowledging the work of the Audit and Standards Committee in 2019 and 2020; and

(2) agrees the actions set out in paragraph 11 of the report for the Monitoring Officer to report back progress to a future committee.