Ludlow Town Council is the most complained-about authority in the county, according to figures released by standards committees across Shropshire.
In south Shropshire, there have been 20 complaints about breaches of the councillors’ code of conduct since May this year, when a new system for reporting breaches came into force.
Fifteen of the complaints were made about Ludlow Town councillors.
Two complaints will soon be resolved. Thirteen were made on July 9 by five people complaining about a number of town councillors, and are still pending.
Veronica Calderbank, head of scrutiny and standards at South Shropshire District Council, told the Journal:“We’ve got by far the greatest number of complaints to deal with in the county, possibly in the country. There’s a standards conference in October and they’ll be comparing notes and we will have statistics by then.”
The 20 complaints received were on a range of issues, including bringing the office of councillor into disrepute and failing to treat members of the public with respect.
From May 8, the Standards Board for England ceased to be responsible for dealing with complaints about councillors breaching their code of conduct. The responsibility moved to standards committees at district and county councils.
The combined number of complaints received in the same time by Oswestry, North Shropshire, Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury & Atcham councils was eight. Shropshire County Council received none.
Veronica Calderbank said: “I have been offering all town and parish councils training in the code of conduct, how to stay safe. If anybody wants me to go along, I will give up my spare time. But very few have taken me up on it.
“In the three years I have been here I have met some wonderful people and it’s sad to see people falling foul of the code of conduct because they don’t know how it works.”
Asked if Ludlow Town Council would be taking up her offer, Town Clerk Linda Thomas said: “It’s certainly something that’s on the agenda.”
Ludlow Mayor Jim Newbold said: “I can’t really say anything because I don’t really know the circumstances of the complaints.”
Asked what steps should be taken to improve matters, Mayor Newbold said: “As far as I know, no complaints have gone through to the Standards Board since May and as far as I know, only one has gone through to the committee.”
South Shropshire District Council is not allowed to reveal which councillors have been complained about and why, until a final decision has been reached in each case and the complainant has been notified.
