Issue - meetings

The Monitoring Officer submits a report submits a report to enable the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee to consider a complaint against a councillor following a decision of the Standards Advisory Board on 9 July 2025.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report providing details of an investigation into a complaint against Councillor Kitterick made by Strategic Director for City Development and Neighbourhoods, Richard Sword, and of the Standards process so far leading to a Hearing Sub-Committee to take place.

The Investigator, Mr Alex Oram, introduced the report, setting out the nature of the complaint against Councillor Kitterick and the details of his investigations together with a view on whether the alleged conduct took place.

The report set out whether the conduct amounted to a breach of the code of conduct and the Investigator explained how he had reached his conclusions, establishing that Councillor Kitterick did act as alleged and within his councillor capacity and as such the code of conduct had been breached.

The Sub-Committee were invited to raise any questions on the facts outlined in the report. Members did not have any questions in regard to the report.

Councillor Kitterick was invited to raise any questions on the facts outlined in the report, during which, he highlighted the following points:

·       The briefing Microsoft Teams briefing invite where the alleged code breach occurred, the PowerPoint presentation and alternative forms of communication via email or interview following the briefing did not explicitly state that it was private and confidential. Councillor Kitterick raised concern that the balance of probability, being the standard of proof by which the alleged breach was being tested, was based on the recollection of the parties present; not substantive evidence, and that greater importance had been placed on the witness statement.

·       Councillor Kitterick believed that it was in the public interest that the contents of the briefing be disclosed to the public as he did not believe the public had been consulted widely enough on the topic.

·       Councillor Kitterick called into question the behaviour and recollection of the complainant and witnesses, in which they had stated that they were ‘surprised’ at him being unhappy with the briefing, when it was considered common knowledge that he often held strong concerns regarding National Designated Space Standards (NDSS).

·       Concern was raised regarding the changes in wording in the report, where ‘Chris presided over the worst housing delivery in city history’ to ‘worst Director of Housing’. Councillor Kitterick stated that he had not said ‘worst Director of Housing’ to his recollection and had there been contemporaneous notes taken at the time of, or after the meeting, it would have been considered a greater level of evidence.

·       Councillor Kitterick raised concern about the use of similar or same wording used by the complainant and witnesses involved in the complaint and further highlighted the insinuation of a mental health condition, which he clarified did not exist.

·       Attention was drawn to the wordings regarding the sizing of the units for the Yoho Building. The report stated that the units were ‘slightly smaller’ than the National Designated Space Standards. The units themselves were measured at 23 square-meters compared to the NDSS requirement of 37 square-meters, which Councillor Kitterick emphasised was not a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

The Monitoring Officer submits a report submits a report to enable the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee to consider a complaint against a councillor following a decision of the Standards Advisory Board on 9 July 2025.