Staffordshire County Council standards panel to consider complaint against councillor
By Phil Corrigan - Local Democracy Reporter 13th May 2026
A council's standards panel will consider a complaint against an elected member for the second time in seven months.
The alleged breach of Staffordshire County Council's code of conduct by an unnamed councillor will be considered by the standards panel on Tuesday, 19 May.
Neither the identity of the councillor nor the nature of the complaint have been made public, and the meeting will be held in private due to it involving 'the likely disclosure of exempt information'.
The standards panel last met in November, when they upheld two complaints against Barry Martin, Reform UK councillor for Stretton, both relating to his social media activity.
According to the council website, this was the first time since 2021 that the standards panel had considered a complaint against a councillor.
The cross-party panel considers breaches of the code of conduct and, where applicable, makes recommendations to the audit and standards committee or the full council on any action it considers appropriate.
Before considering the latest complaint against a councillor on Tuesday, the panel will meet to receive an 'external investigation report'. This meeting will also be held in private and the nature of the report has not been made public.
The county council's code of conduct includes various clauses requiring councillors to treat others with respect and barring behaviour such as bullying, harassment or anything that could bring the authority into disrepute.
If a councillor is found to have breached the code, a number of possible sanctions are available, including ordering them to make a formal apology or undertake additional training, or recommending that they be removed from committees.
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