Code of Conduct Complaints Local Assessment Framework (08 May 2008 – 30 June 2009)

2 Complaints Received ( relating to members conduct / behaviour) Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has received 11 complaints relating to members conduct since the introduction of the local assessment framework, 10 of the complaints were received before 15 November The last complaint was received on 24 April (36%) of the 11 complaints received were made against Parish / Town Councillors. 7 (64%) of the complaints received were made against Borough Councillors. 9 (82%) of the complaints received were made by the public and 2 (18%) by council members.

3 The Assessment Sub-Committee (meet to make an initial assessment of a complaint) The Assessment Sub-Committee met on 7 occasions to assess 11 complaints. No further action was agreed on 6 of the complaints received. 4 complaints were referred to the Monitoring Officer for local Investigation. Other action by the Monitoring Officer was agreed on the remaining complaint. The Standards Board for England guidance states the Assessment Sub-Committee should meet within 20 working days of receipt of a complaint. All of the Assessment Sub-Committee meetings were held within 20 working days of receiving a complaint.

4 The Review Sub-Committee ( meet if a review request is received from a complainant within 30 days of the date of a decision notice stating no further action). The Review Sub-Committee met on 3 occasions to review 4 requests. All 4 review requests were dismissed (i.e. no further action required). The Standards Board for England guidance states the Review Sub-Committee should meet within 3 months of receiving a review request. All the Review Sub-Committee meetings were held within 20 days of receiving a review request from the complainant.

5 The Consideration Sub-Committee (meet to consider an Investigating Officer’s report) The Consideration Sub-Committee have met on 3 occasions to consider 5 investigation reports. 2 reports from Standards Board for England complaints (pre 08 May 2008) and 3 reports (4 complaints) since the introduction of the local assessment framework. At each of these meetings the Investigating Officer gave an oral account of their investigation and answered questions from the Sub-Committee. The average length of time from the decision to refer to the date of the determination meeting was 156 days (excludes SBE cases (pre 08 May 08) / Hearing Sub-Committee determination). On 4 of the reports the Sub-Committee agreed (‘finding of acceptance’) with the Investigating Officer that the member investigated had not breached the Code. The Investigator in the remaining report (2 complaints) determined a breach had occurred; therefore the Sub-Committee referred the case for determination by the Standards Committee’s Hearing Sub-Committee.

6 The Hearing Sub-Committee (meet to consider the investigation report and any written or verbal representations from the parties involved). The Hearing Sub-Committee have met on one occasion (26/06/2009). The representations received at this meeting were from the Investigating Officer (verbally) and subject member (written). The Sub-Committee determined their finding of facts regarding the case and determined that a breach of the Code had occurred (failing to treat others with respect). A sanction was imposed which required the subject member to apologise to the complainant and to take part in Code of Conduct training, in order to avoid a one month partial suspension. The Sub-Committee further recommended that members be reminded that they should treat each other with respect. An application for permission to appeal against the Hearing Sub-Committee’s decision by the subject member was refused by the Adjudication Panel. None of the complaints received have been referred to either the SBE or the APE.

7 Standards Board for England (SBE) – Local Assessment Framework Statistics ( 08 May 2008 – 31 March 2009) A total of 2,863 Code of Code complaints were recorded with the SBE. The average recorded complaints per authority is 2 per quarter. The average number of cases per Unitary authority are: % of complaints made were by the public and 36% from council members, with the remaining 10% from a combination of Officers, Parish / Town Clerks, MP’s and Monitoring Officers. The average length of time from date of receipt to referral decision is 20 working days. However, 838 (31%) cases took longer than 20 working days.

8 Standards Board for England (SBE) – Local Assessment Framework Statistics ( 08 May 2008 – 31 March 2009) Of the 2,693 complaint referral decisions made: 52.5% - No further action 29.0% - Referred to Monitoring Officer for investigation 12.1% - Other Action 6.2% - Referred to SBE for investigation 0.2% - Referred to another authority 526 review requests were received with 384 of these being assessed. 94% remained no further action and 6% were referred for investigation either locally or by the SBE. A request for a review was received in 37% of cases where the initial assessment decision was no further action.

9 Standards Board for England (SBE) – Local Assessment Framework Statistics ( 08 May 2008 – 31 March 2009) 224 cases with investigation outcomes were recorded with the SBE. In 158 (71%) cases no breach had been found. In 56 (25%) of cases a breach of the Code was found and a penalty imposed. 10 (4%) further cases also found a breach of the Code although no further action was taken. The average length of time from the decision to refer to the date of the determination meeting was 100 days. The most frequent breaches of the Code were: Part 3(1)(a): You must treat others with respect (37 occurrences) Part 5: You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute (28 occurrences).