Two dozen conduct complaints about Peterborough city councillors since January

There have been 24 code of conduct complaints about Peterborough City councillors since the start of the year, it has been revealed.

The complaints include an allegation over the financial stability of a charity being put at risk, the alleged mishandling of a postal vote, and seven complaints relating to the use of ‘discriminatory, inappropriate or insulting language, or gestures’.

Neil McArthur, Director of Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer has put together a report on the matter, which will be put before the council’s Constitution and Ethics Committee on Monday, July 29.

The committee had decided that such complaints “should be reported in an anonymous way until such time as a breach of the code of conduct is found as part of the complaints process” – so the identities of the councillors involved will not yet be revealed.

An excerpt from the report reads: “Since the Committee last met, the Monitoring Officer has received 24 new complaints relating to city councillors. Five of those complaints have been either been resolved amicably after the involvement of the Monitoring Officer and the provision of information to the complainant, or the complainant has chosen not to take the matter further."

There are now ongoing investigations into the following:

• One complaint involves an allegation that the financial stability of charity was put at risk.

• One complaint relates to comments made at a full council meeting

• One complaint relates to a letter sent to another councillor

• Seven complaints relate to allegations of discriminatory, inappropriate or insulting language, or gestures

• One complaint relates to an alleged GDPR data breach and non-response to complaint

• Six complaints relate to impropriety arising from attendance at an event

• One complaint alleges the misuse of council resources

• One complaint relates to postal vote handling

There are currently no new complaints in relation to parish councillors, the report adds.

Mr McArthur says the process for dealing with conduct complaints requires the Monitoring Officer to “consult the Independent Person following an initial assessment and before any decisions are taken as to what if any further action is considered appropriate”.

He adds that the report will “inform future decisions about what training may be necessary to ensure the requirements of the code are being met”.