The Standards Assessment Board of Durham County Council met on Thursday 8 October 2026 to review ongoing complaints under the Member Code of Conduct. The Board noted the contents of a report detailing the status of these complaints and considered two specific cases.

Code of Conduct Complaints Update

The Board received an update on complaints lodged under the Member Code of Conduct. A report from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services detailed that fifteen complaints received before 1 September 2026 had been considered at a previous meeting on 11 September 2026. At that meeting, seven complaints required no further action, and three were deemed suitable for informal resolution. Two complaints were to be considered by the Board on 8 October 2026, and two others were rejected as they did not engage the Code. The remaining complaint from that period had been treated as withdrawn due to a lack of necessary information from the complainant. Between 2 September and 28 September 2026, two new complaints were received, both at the pre-assessment stage and awaiting review. The Board noted the contents of this report.

Complaint References FS-Case-866961704 and FS-Case-866963340

The Board considered two specific complaints, FS-Case-866961704 and FS-Case-866963340. Following a review of the details, the Subject Member's response, and the advice of the Deputy Monitoring Officer, the Board noted that complaint FS-Case-866961704 was outside the scope of the Code of Conduct. For complaint FS-Case-866963340, the Board determined it was suitable for informal resolution, with the agreed recommendations to be outlined in a Decision Notice.

The Council has a duty under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011¹ to promote and maintain high standards of conduct among its members. This includes adopting a Code of Conduct consistent with the Nolan Principles². The Council must also have procedures in place to consider allegations of breaches of this Code. The report referenced the Council's Procedure for Member Code of Conduct Complaints, which was agreed on 15 October 2025 and became effective from 1 November 2025. This procedure outlines that the Standards Assessment Board, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, should consider complaints within 20 working days of receipt.