The Council acknowledges that there is a need to balance the public interest in transparency of these types of matters with the requirement of fairness to a member who is subject to an allegation.
The contents of the initial assessment of a complaint and the investigation will remain confidential.
When a matter progresses to a local hearing before the Committee of the Standards Committee, in ‘Part II or closed’ session and information relating thereto will be considered exempt under the provisions of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, subject to the application of the public interest test, as appropriate.
Data protection requirements will be complied with and may prevent the public disclosure of information relating to complaints. Consideration will also be given to the disclosure of the papers prior to and or after the hearing and whether any redactions of the papers need to be made.