Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Howcroft-Scott, Kemp, Pearce, Louwella Prenter and Tejan.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 13 August 2025.

The record of the meeting held on 13 August 2025 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

The report informs the Committee of the number of complaints received under the code of conduct for councilors and the outcome during the calendar years for 2024 and 2025.

Discussion:

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the report to the Committee which provided data on councillor conduct complaints received by the Council’s Monitoring Officer during 2024 and 2025. Comment was made of the initial screening process undertaken by the Monitoring Officer and how this had improved efficiencies of dealing with complaints since its introduction.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.

This report summarises the content of agenda item 7, which, in the opinion of the proper officer, contains exempt information within one of the categories in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is a matter for the Committee to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of documents. 

The Committee agreed that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt material relating to agenda item 7 because consideration of these matters in public would disclose information falling within Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 6,and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. 

The Committee is asked to consider a complaint relating to a Medway Councillor.

Discussion:

The Deputy Monitoring Officer introduced the report which set out the details of a complaint relating to the conduct of a Medway Councillor. She explained that initial screening had been undertaken as part of the authority delegated by the Committee to initially screen complaints and the Monitoring Officer had concluded that it was not appropriate for him to determine that no further action be taken. The matter had therefore been referred to the Committee.

The Committee considered the allegations, having regard to the complaint, as set out in and attached to the Committee report. The Committee’s assessment was undertaken with the Screening Process the Committee had adopted for this purpose.

The Committee determined that the allegations made in the complaint could potentially amount to a breach of the Member Code of Conduct.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to instruct the Monitoring Officer to conduct an investigation of complaint CCC/2026/003, the outcome of which would be reported to a future meeting of the Committee.