The Standards Committee deals with the conduct of
Councillors and is responsible for ensuring the adopted arrangements to deal
with complaints against Councillors are effective and that the Council operates
to high ethical standards.
The arrangements for handling complaints delegates authority
to the Chair of the Standards Committee to consider and determine complaints
following consultation with fellow committee members, independent persons and
the Monitoring Officer. This is typically through a consultation meeting which
is not open to the public.
In most cases, the Chair will determine the complaint
through this consultation process, but if not, then an independent
investigation may be commissioned. The outcome of a commissioned investigation
is reported to the Standards Committee.
A report is presented to the formal public Standards
Committee providing an anonymised summary of new, pending and closed complaints
on a rolling basis.
Details of how to make an official complaint against a
councillor and the arrangements for handling complaints is set out in Part 6 of
the Constitution.