The Standards Committee of Kent County Council was scheduled to convene on Wednesday, 29 April 2026. The meeting's agenda included an update on the standards regime and member complaints, alongside procedural items. The report pack provided to attendees outlined the discussions planned for the meeting, but does not indicate what was actually discussed or any decisions made.

Standards Regime and Member Complaints Update

A significant portion of the scheduled discussion was to focus on the Standards Regime and Member Complaints Update . This report, authored by Petra Der Man, Monitoring Officer, aimed to provide an overview of formal complaints received under the Kent Code of Member Conduct and other information pertinent to the council's ethical framework.

The report detailed that between 6 May 2025 and the end of March 2026, a total of 85 member complaints were received, averaging almost 8 per month. October 2025 saw the highest number of complaints with 18. Notably, complaints made by Members against other Members constituted 40% of all complaints received, a figure that rose to 72% in the first three months of 2026. Of the 85 complaints, 95% had been closed or resolved informally, with 5% remaining under review. The primary areas leading to complaints were identified as:

• Comments made by Members on social media.
• Behaviour and comments during formal council meetings.
• The use of council resources.

The report also highlighted that on 1 March 2026, Michael Turner began his role as the new Independent Person, tasked with providing advice and objectivity in complaint handling. Plans are in place to recruit a second Independent Person to ensure resilience. Furthermore, the report mentioned government plans, announced on 11 November 2025, to introduce significant changes to the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England. The committee was to be informed when a clear timetable for these changes is established, to allow for necessary updates to the code of conduct.

The report concluded with a recommendation for the Standards Committee to discuss the information presented and make recommendations on actions that could be taken to reduce the number of member complaints.

Procedural Items

In addition to the substantive update, the meeting was scheduled to address several procedural matters. These included the election of a Chair for the Committee, apologies and substitutes, and declarations of interest. The minutes from the previous meeting held on 15 October 2025 were also scheduled for review.

The minutes from the 15 October 2025 meeting indicate that at that time, Mr. Ben Watts was the Deputy Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer. The report from that meeting noted an increase in complaints against Members compared to similar periods, though it was stated that the number remained less than other local authorities. Suggestions were made during that meeting for Members to have open conversations about agenda items and work programming, and for the Committee to potentially create a Standards Working Party Group to discuss member training and awareness of the Members' Code of Conduct.