Are Parish Councils obliged to share findings of Monitoring Officier against a parish councillor

Question

A complaint made by a parishioner to the Monitoring Officier has been upheld against a member of the parish council. Various recommendations have also been made. Are the council obliged to make the findings sent to the clerk public? Can they be withheld and not contravene good practice? Many thanks

Answer 1

Only if it is on their publication scheme or in response to a freedom of information request. Even then certain information might be redacted subject to GDPR 2018 regulations. Some principal authorities actually publish MO reports.

Comments

Any complaint made to the MO is nothing to do with the Parish Council and is a private matter between the MO and the councillor in question. The decision of the MO becomes a matter of public record. In the support of transparency it would be advisable for the PC to make the MO findings ( either way) known to their community.

Answer 2

I’ve never quite understood where the line is drawn
A little while ago I self reported complaints against me they were heard by a members panel and the whole lot was published but I insisted on waiving  confidentiality from the outset

A subsequent  complaint against me didn’t go to the members panel and wasn’t published

With regard to the second complaint I didn’t know if I could release it or not so I didn’t show it to anyone on the assumption the Parish would include it on the Agenda
It’s now turned out that the conclusion has been appealed and that it has also been leaked so it will be interesting to see what happens next
The circumstances of the second complaint are too funny for words so I’ll post it when it’s concluded

My opinion is that any complaint should be aired in public just like a Court case or planning appeal