I understand you have a duty to handle Code of Conduct complaints about Councillors at DCC and at town/parish councils in your area, as specified at s28(6) and s28(7) Localism Act 2011.
All of the complaints data is contained within the Standards Annual Reports which are published on the Devon County Council (DCC) Website: Standards Committee Annual Report . Full investigations are reported to the Committee for their determination, the minutes of which are also published on the DCC website: Standards Committee Meetings .
For year 2023 only, please can you provide the total number of Code complaints that were:
1) Received from members of the public
From January 2023 to December 2023 there were eleven complaints from the public.
2) Received from others (Councillors and Officers etc)
Nil
3) Referred to and assessed by your Standards Hearing Committee or Governance Panel
None were assessed by the standards committee.
4) Decided upon or recorded as upheld
Out of the 11 complaints, 6 were not a breach of the Code. 1 complaint is ongoing and 4 complaints were deemed a breach (although there were two complaints relating to the same incident).
5) If upheld, the sanctions applied
The sanctions applied were:
1. Amendments to register of interest and guidance given
2. Advice and guidance given and an apology made
3. Email apology issued by councillor.