21 formal complaints against Buckinghamshire Councillors
These include ones against county, town and parish representatives according to an official report.
There have been 21 complaints against Councillors across Buckinghamshire in the last six months.
Bullying, disrespect and dragging the council into disrepute were just some of the complaints levelled at councillors in the past six months.
A series of grievances brought against Buckinghamshire councillors between April and September have centred around four main themes, with some relating to members having a personal interest in a public matter.
Some 21 formal complaints involving county, town and parish representatives were received, according to an official report.
Of those 21, two were carried from legacy councils before the unitary authority was formed on April 1.
Some 13 complaints pertain to Buckinghamshire or legacy councillors, while eight involve town or parish members.
Overarching themes relate to disrespect, followed closely by “bringing the council into disrepute”, and bullying. Several complaints relate to “personal interest”.
Complaints are listed as in process or concluded, but no councillors are named.
A three-stage process can occur when a complaint is levelled. Stage One involves notifying the councillor for a response. Stage Two, the complaint is considered by the council solicitor and standards committee chairperson. Stage Three could include a formal investigation.
Of the complaints made there has been no breach of the Code of Conduct.
However, Cllr Jonathan Waters agreed with the council solicitor that future reports should cite case examples of alleged misbehaviour.
“There’s a little bit of a tension,” said the solicitor, “Because we’re keen to do this on an anonymous basis and some complaints are very specific and you may be able to determine who the councillors involved are.”
Cllr Alex Collingwood said the report did not reveal whether there is “a recurring theme, or trend”.
“It would be helpful to understand at what stage a complaint is at so we have the magnitude of those going through the full process,” he said.
Adding: “The ‘life of the complaint’ would be useful to understand to see if we are improving standards over time.”
Cllr Shade Adoh and Cllr Waters agreed, adding knowledge of how quickly the council is progressing a complaint to resolution would also be beneficial.