NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL STANDARDS AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

19 June 2026

 

Complaints Update

 

1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 To update the Committee regarding standards complaint activity.

 

2.0      BACKGROUND

2.1      A standing report regarding complaints that Members and voting co-opted Members of North Yorkshire Council and parish and town councils in North Yorkshire may have breached the relevant Code of Conduct for Members is brought to scheduled ordinary meetings of the Standards and Governance Committee and other meetings as the Monitoring Officer deems appropriate.

 

2.2      North Yorkshire Council is the principal authority for parish and town councils in North Yorkshire for the purposes of the standards provisions in the Localism Act 2011. It is responsible for receiving and handling complaints that a parish/town councillor may have breached that authority’s code of conduct for Members. That is the extent of North Yorkshire Council’s jurisdiction in respect of parish/town council governance; parish/town councils are separate legal entities responsible for their own general governance and North Yorkshire Councilhas no jurisdiction to considerother complaints for example about the way in which the parish/town council has or has not done something, or about particular parish/town council decisions or employees.

 

3.0     CONTEXT AND SCALE

 

3.1   Within North Yorkshire there are currently:

 

·           730 individual parishes

·           411 parish and town councils

·           162 parish meetings

·           90 NYC councillors

 

   3.2    The national context:

 

·           NYC has the largest number of parish and town councils of any local authority in the country

·           The next nearest council - Somerset Council has 272 plus three groups of councils

·           51% have less than 30

·           97.5% of councils have less than 200

·           There are only 6 councils with over 200 parish councils

·           Only 2 councils have over 300 parish councils

 

     3.3      The North Yorkshire context:

 

NYC is one of the largest local authorities in the country, in terms of geographic area, and there is a significant number of the smallest form of parish sector organisations, parish meetings (24%). Overall, parish sector organisations are generally smaller and charge a smaller precept (if any) than other similar councils. This uniquely larger number of parish Sector organisations are spread over a significantly large rural area and generally have very limited resources.  

4.0     STANDARDS COMPLAINTS RECEIVED

 

Previous municipal years

 

4.1     During the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, the Council received 174 complaints           that members may have breached the relevant authority’s code of conduct for Members.

 

4.2     During the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, 133 complaints were received.

 

4.3     During the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, 183 complaints were received - nine more than in the first year following reorganisation.

 

4.4     A more detailed breakdown of the complaints statistics for the three full municipal years is attached at Appendix 1 to this report for Members’ information.

 

4.5      The statistics for previous municipal years are published on the Council’s website at - Councillors' code of conduct | North Yorkshire Council.at the bottom of the webpage.

 

              Current municipal year

 

4.6      During the period 1 April 2026 to 29 May 2026, a further 18 complaints have been received.

 

4.7      A more detailed breakdown of the complaints statistics for the current year is attached at Appendix 2 to this report for Members’ information.

 

4.8      Following the start of the new municipal year, further provision has been made in the statistics recording schedule of pre-assessment outcomes. This additional data will be recorded and reported upon going forwards. It will therefore not appear in the statistics for previous municipal years.

 

     5.0    BREAKDOWN OF COMPLAINT STATISTICS

 

              Pre-assessments and Assessments for the current year

 

5.1          So far this municipal year, of the 18 complaints received:

 

a)     4 complaints pre-assessed by the Monitoring Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer did not proceed to full assessment and were therefore subject to no further action. The range of reasons for the complaints not progressing to assessment include:

 

·         where a complaint which was not about individual councillor conduct but instead related to general parish governance.

·         where there was no evidence presented that the councillor was acting in their official capacity at the relevant times;

·         where it was clear that the complaint, if proven to be true, would clearly not amount to a breach of the code

·         where the complainant did not substantiate the complaint

 

Some complaints may fail to progress to assessment for multiple reasons.

 

b)     14 complaints have progressed to a full assessment by the Monitoring Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Independent Persons for Standards. Of those assessed complaints:

 

                                                i.       4  were referred for investigation

 

                                               ii.      7 did not merit formal investigation or other action

1.    Of those complaints which did not merit referral for formal investigation, these included: -

a.    a complaint about an NYC Councillor received anonymously;

b.    a complaint about an NYC Councillor misrepresenting comments; 

c.     complaints about two Parish Councillors (received in the same complaint) which provided insufficient evidence of a potential breach of the code;

d.    a complaint against a parish councillor deemed to be insufficiently serious for investigation; 

 

The remaining 3 complaints are in preparatory stages or awaiting assessment. A further update will be given to the Committee by the Monitoring Officer at the Committee’s next ordinary meeting.

 

5.2      The Monitoring Officer is reviewing the production of standards statistics for Members and the public, to ensure the most helpful information is provided. Members’ views are welcome on the statistics provided to the Committee and whether they would find any additional reporting helpful.

 

              Investigations/Determinations update

 

5.3       Please see the progress below on investigations since the Committee’s last meeting on 13 March 2026:

 

       2023 - 2024

 

·      Investigation 7 – 2 complaints from different individuals about the same matter against 1 North Yorkshire Councillor.

Complaint is live. The Monitoring Officer will update the Committee when in a position to do so.

 

2025 - 2026

 

·            Investigation 12 – 1 complaint against 1 North Yorkshire Councillor.

The Monitoring Officer is reporting this outcome once more as the outcome was incorrectly recorded in the previous report. The Investigating Officer found evidence of a technical breach of code. Accepted by Monitoring Officer and Independent Person as sufficient. No further action required.

 

·            Investigation 13 – 1 complaint against 1 Town Councillor.

The Investigating Officer found no evidence of breach of code. Accepted by Monitoring Officer and Independent Person as sufficient. No further action required.

 

·           Investigation 14 – 1 complaint against 1 North Yorkshire Councillor

This complaint is live. The Monitoring Officer will update the Committee when in a position to do so.

 

 

 

1.4.26 to date

 

·           Investigation 15 – multiple complaints against 1 North Yorkshire Councillor. Lead complaint being investigated and others included for context (and recorded as being investigated through the lead investigation).

This complaint is live. The Monitoring Officer will update the Committee when in a position to do so.

 

5.4         The volume of complaints and associated correspondence and information           governance requests has meant a sustained heavy workload for officers and the         Independent Persons during the three years since Vesting Day and this continues..  Whilst the flow of new complaints had slowed during 2024/2025, Members will see that the rate has increased once again as can be seen from section 4 of the report which shows the comparative figures for years one, two, and three. Despite this upturn, the average time taken to process complaints remains significantly reduced, following the introduction of the pre-assessment stage of complaint handling and other streamlining of processes. 

 

5.5         The Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer would again wish to take this opportunity to thank all the Independent Persons for their valued views, time, patience and input into what can be time-consuming and complex matters.

 

6.0     FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

6.1     There are no significant financial implications arising from this report.

 

7.0    LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1    There are no significant legal implications arisingfrom this report.

8.0    ENVIRONMENTAL/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1    There are no significant environmental/climate changeimplications arising from this   report.

9.0    EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1     There are no significant equalities implications arisingfrom this report

10.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 10.1 That the Committee considers and determines whether it requires any additional statistical information reporting to ordinary meetings of the Committee. 10.2 That the Committee notes the current position on standards complaints received.

 

BARRY KHAN

Assistant ChiefExecutive, Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer Background Documents:None

County Hall NORTHALLERTON

8 June 2026