An elected member has raised doubts about the impartiality of Brighton and Hove City Council’s approach to handling grievances.
Conservative representative Anne Meadows addressed the audit, standards and general purposes committee at Hove Town Hall on Tuesday, April 21.
The experienced councillor stated that her trust in the complaints procedure had diminished in recent times.
She also expressed worry that during the upcoming period leading to the May 2027 local elections, there would be an increase in complaints against councillors – frequently lodged by fellow councillors or individuals with political motives.
Cllr Meadows said she previously believed the process was handled fairly and competently but recently had noticed that legitimate complaints against the administration fail to progress through the procedure. She added that any minor complaints against other councillors are pursued with considerable enthusiasm.
She mentioned that councillors dissatisfied with how their complaints are handled could escalate their matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Green councillor Pete West, who chairs the committee, requested that Cllr Meadows supply evidence to support her serious allegations – she agreed to provide this privately after the meeting.
Labour councillor Josh Guilmant responded that this was veering towards conspiracy theory territory and that if evidence exists, it should be presented.
The council’s head of legal services Elizabeth Culbert similarly requested additional information regarding specific concerning complaints.
She stated that every complaint submitted concerning members adheres to the identical procedure – this is their code of conduct as established in their constitution. She explained that complaints are concluded at various stages of the process as appropriate, and the nature of the complaint determines whether it progresses to a final standards hearing. Every complaint received follows precisely the same process.
She indicated that the Local Government Ombudsman has not issued any findings against the council regarding standards complaints during her tenure as monitoring officer.
A summary of complaints submitted against councillors is circulated prior to each audit, standards and general purposes committee meeting, though individuals are not named.
Currently, three complaints registered in October of last year have carried forward to this year, with a formal investigation examining allegations of improper conduct.
The remaining two complaints concern behaviour during a councillor’s speech and newsletter content and remain unresolved.
So far this year, the council has received ten complaints about members, with five resolved and the remainder still being examined.
The ongoing complaints from this year involve behaviour at a council meeting, a social media posting, information supplied about council services that has been flagged as incorrect, a response to a public inquiry, and the stance taken by two councillors on a planning application.