Frivolous complaints about councillors are costing taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds, it has been claimed. Staffordshire County Council received 149 complaints up until February 10, of which only eight were upheld, according to figures presented at a recent council meeting.
Breakdown of complaints by party
Reform UK councillors were the subject of 134 complaints, while there were 11 against Conservative councillors and four involving independent members. The vast majority of complaints were not substantiated.
Councillor Alex Farrell, a Conservative representing Lichfield Rural South, raised the issue at a Staffordshire County Council meeting, asking the council leader if he was concerned about the number of complaints and what was being done to tackle the cause. He added: "Given the increased volume of complaints this council receives about councillors, could you please give me a breakdown of how much this costs us extra as a council?"
Council leader's response
Councillor Martin Murray, leader of the council, said he had been subject to a complaint over sharing a news article from The Telegraph. He stated: "The problem is, why they've gone up so much, is these frivolous complaints that have been put through, it's politicisation so they can grab this headline right now."
Murray noted that complaints had not only increased between councillors but also from parish, district and borough councils. He described seeing "the repeated copy and paste of the exact same one from activists, and I've seen them, you have 10 copy and paste with the exact same wording."
Financial impact
Murray emphasised the cost to taxpayers: "It's costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds doing it this way." He added that "hundreds of hours of officers' time is removed by dealing with these frivolous cases."
An external organisation has been brought in to help manage the increased volume of complaints, according to Farrell. The council is exploring ways to address the root cause of the complaints, which has been linked to political activism.
