The Standards Committee of Bury Council met on 18 September 2025 to discuss the annual review of the Code of Conduct, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter for 2024-25. The committee agreed to note the Ombudsman's letter and the complaints made to the Ombudsman that were referred to the council during 2024/25, and their outcomes. The committee also agreed to instruct the Monitoring Officer to revise the Code of Conduct and guidance following the review.

Code of Conduct Annual Review

The committee conducted its annual review of the Member Code of Conduct and the Member Guide to the Code of Conduct. The committee agreed to instruct the Monitoring Officer to revise the code and guidance following the review.

The code of conduct outlines the standards of behaviour expected of councillors and co-opted members. It includes provisions on general obligations, disclosable pecuniary interests¹, and other registerable interests.

The code also addresses matters such as:

• Treating others with respect
• Not bringing the council into disrepute
• Not misusing council resources
• Not disclosing confidential information

The guide to the code of conduct provides examples of behaviours that have been considered against the Member Code of Conduct. It references guidance from the Local Government Association (LGA) on its model councillor code of conduct. Examples include:

• The impartiality of council officers
• Acting as a private individual
• Respect
• Bullying
• Discrimination
• Misuse of position
• Bias and pre-determination

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 2024-25

The committee considered the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) Annual Review Letter and performance data for 2024-25. The committee agreed to note the content of the letter and the complaints made to the LGO that were referred to the council during 2024/25, and their outcomes.

The LGO is responsible for investigating complaints against councils and adult social care providers. The annual review letter provides a summary of the complaints received by the LGO about Bury Council, as well as the outcomes of those complaints.

Key points from the report on the Ombudsman Annual Review Letter included:

• The number of complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman about the council has increased slightly, from 78 in 2023-2024 to 89 in 2024-2025.
• The complaints received by the Ombudsman about the council in 2024/25 were split across service areas. Education and Children's Services accounted for the largest proportion of complaints (28), followed by Environmental and Public Protection & Regulation (18), and Highways & Transport (14).
• 71% of complaints investigated were upheld, compared to an average of 81% in similar authorities.
• The council's compliance rate with the Ombudsman's recommendations was 100%, which is in line with the average for similar authorities.
• The percentage of cases where the council offered a satisfactory remedy was 20%, compared to an average of 13% in similar authorities.

The report noted that complaints about education and children's services are still dominating the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's casework, but housing cases are now the second biggest area of concern for people complaining.

The LGO's Annual Review of Local Government Complaints in England for 2024-2025 pulls together the national picture of trends and common issues that have arisen from complaints over the last year. The review noted a record number of complaints were received during the year, exceeding 20,000 for the first time.

The LGO has an interactive map of performance. The map shows annual performance data for all Councils in England, with links to published decision statements, public interest reports, annual letters and information about service improvements that have been agreed by each Council. The intention of this tool is to place a focus on the authority's compliance with the recommendations. The interactive map can be accessed via the following link: Bury Metropolitan Borough Council - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.