Complaints about the conduct of South Tyneside’s councillors have more than doubled in the last two months, sparking fresh concerns over delays in how cases are being handled.
00:00A report presented to the Council's latest Standards Committee meeting revealed that 51 complaints are currently open under the Elected Members' Code of Conduct.
00:09That's 28 more than in July 2025, despite only four complaints being formally closed in that time.
00:15Of the 51 active cases, 25 have now reached the formal investigation stage.
00:20The growing caseload brings the total number of complaints since January 2020 to 328.
00:26Most were made by members of the public, while a large proportion also came from other councillors.
00:31A smaller number were submitted by council staff or external individuals.
00:36A report from council officers stated that every effort is being made to speed up the complaint handling process.
00:41It acknowledged that many formal investigations are still facing significant delays, with some cases taking more than six months to resolve.
00:48Contributing factors include the complexity of the complaints, limited staff capacity and other competing priorities within the council.
00:56And delays in response from those involved.
00:59To address the issue, new measures have been introduced.
01:02The council now requires all complaints to be actioned within 21 working days of receipt.
01:07If a complaint fails to provide evidence within that time, the complaint will be automatically rejected.
01:13Since that change, all new complaints have either been resolved, rejected and moved to formal investigation within the 21-day time frame.
01:21However, cases already in progress are still taking longer than expected to complete.
01:26In some of the more complex or sensitive cases, external investigators have been brought in to carry out independent reviews.
01:33These investigations come at a significant cost of around £20,000 per case.
01:38And are expected to produce draft reports once all parties involved have contributed.
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