Dudley MBC councillors will be asked to sign a pledge next week committing them to ‘demonstrate respect, integrity, accountability and leadership' amid rising complaints.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which lifted a Best Value notice in July, has been told of the increase in complaints.
A council spokesperson said the Government was ‘aware' of the increase since the Best Value notice was lifted and this formed ‘part of the regular scheduled dialogue in place between the council and MHCLG'.
Under the pledge, councillors would commit not to ‘bully, harass or intimidate others' or ‘make malicious allegations'.
Of the 10 complaints received so far this year – already higher than last year's total – seven were member to member and three were from members of the public in relation to conduct.
A report to the latest meeting of Dudley's standards committee said there were also ‘complaints concerning interactions between members and officers and members of the public' but the spokesperson said the council did not keep an up-to-date record of the number of complaints that officers made about councillors.
When Dudley's Best Value notice was lifted, the council's progress was described as ‘significant, sustained and credible' but the Government urged it to maintain momentum on organisational culture.
In Dudley's original July 2025 Best Value notice, MHCLG urged the council to ‘ensure that culture change is having the desired impacts at all levels of the council', with a focus on ‘relationships between officers and members' and ‘effectively managing poor behaviour so that it does not affect the council's ability to deliver'. Among the concerns cited in the notice were 2023 audit findings of ‘inappropriate behaviour by some members towards officers' and a Local Government Association peer challenge that found cultural issues and behaviours were undermining good governance.
Last month the chair and vice-chair of Dudley's standards committee Cllr Hilary Bills and Cllr Jeff Hill wrote to all councillors ‘following concerns raised by the monitoring officer [Aftab Razzaq] regarding an increase in the number of standards complaints received by the council'.
The letter, seen by The MJ, read: ‘These complaints include both member-to-member matters and complaints arising between members and officers.
‘We would therefore ask all members to take this opportunity to reflect upon their responsibilities under the code of conduct and to ensure that all interactions with fellow members, officers and members of the public reflect the standards expected of those elected to public office.'
The letter warned councillors who were ‘consistently falling below the code' would be hauled in front of the standards committee to ‘explain their actions and answer questions regarding their conduct'.
