If a Code of Conduct complaint has been made against a Councillor, can the complaint or the subject be discussed?

Question

At a recent meeting, the Clerk informed everyone that a complaint had been made against a Councillor present and this councillor then led a discussion about how terrible the complaint is.  Is this OK?  The councillor concerned talks about it at every meeting.

Answer 1

It's sometimes hard to stop people talking about something!  But since the council has no power to adjudicate on a complaint, there is little point to the discussion.  It cannot be an agenda item - again because the council cannot decide.  It is open to other councillors to put a motion to move to the next item of business.  Or the chairman could ask members to refrain from discussing a matter which cannot be decided by the council.

Sometimes complaints are justified, other times citizens can be pretty unreasonable.  It's just part of life as a councillor. Of course, if the council could lawfully do something that would pacify the complainant, whether they are right or not, that might be a desirable outcome for everyone.