Committee details

(i)        To consider investigation reports in respect of Code of Conduct complaints that are referred to it by the Monitoring Officer.

(ii)       To conduct a hearing into an allegation that a Member or co-opted Member of the Council or Town/Parish Council has breached the relevant code of conduct.  At such hearing, the Member against whom a complaint has been made may respond to the investigation report.  Following the hearing the sub-committee can make one of the following findings:

§      that the Member has not failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and no further action needs to be taken in respect of the matters considered at the hearing;

§      that the Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct but no further action needs to be taken in respect of the matters considered at the hearing; or

§      that the Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and a sanction and/or an informal resolution should be imposed.

(iii)      The sub-committee may impose any action or combination of actions available to it, or impose any informal resolution or combination of informal resolutions as are available to it either by law or policy.

(iv)      After making a finding the sub-committee shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, provide written notice of its findings and the reason for its decision to the Member and the complainant.

(v)       To apply the council’s Standards Complaints Procedure and Complaints Standards Sub-Committee Procedure to hearings before the sub-committee.