Swale Borough Council’s Standards Committee considered an update on conduct complaints against parish councillors at its meeting on 22 September 2026, with both cases decided without formal investigation.
Two complaints made against parish councillors in Swale during the first eight months of 2026 were resolved through training and mediation rather than formal investigation, the Standards Committee heard when it met on 22 September 2026.
What the complaints alleged
The first complaint, received in January 2026, alleged that a parish councillor had failed to treat people with respect, failed to champion the interests of the community, and failed to act in accordance with the parish council’s procedures. The Monitoring Officer found sufficient evidence to identify a potential breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.
The second case involved two similar complaints received in the same month. These alleged bullying and obstructive behaviour, hostility and public criticism of members and officers, and that the subject member had been excessively demanding confidential documents in a way that could put the parish council at risk of breaching GDPR. Again, the Monitoring Officer found sufficient evidence to identify a potential breach of the Code.
How the cases were resolved
In the first case, the Parish Clerk was advised to liaise with KALC — the Kent Association of Local Councils — to arrange refresher training for the subject member in relation to parish council procedures.
In the second case, the Parish Clerk was advised to arrange appropriate training for the subject member covering the parish council’s email usage, data protection and the ‘need to know’ principle. The Parish Clerk was also advised to liaise with KALC about potentially arranging mediation between the subject member and the complainants.
Names withheld
The identities of both the complainants and the subject members were not published in the committee papers. The Monitoring Officer’s report explained that the Localism Act 2011 repealed the previous statutory process under which names were published, and that in the absence of that process the Data Protection Act 2018 requires names to be kept confidential.
The report noted that if any future complaint were to proceed to a formal external investigation, there would be an irrecoverable cost to the council, though no figure was specified.
The council had not published the minutes of the meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.
Sources
- Swale Borough Council — Standards Committee, 22 September 2026 (agenda and papers)
- Update on Members’ Code of Conduct Complaints — Standards Committee report (Swale Borough Council, September 2026)
- Appendix I: Code of Conduct Complaints Table January–August 2026 (Swale Borough Council)
Top image: illustrative, computer-generated. Illustrative image generated by AI. This is not a photograph of any real council chamber or building in Swale.