Councillor found in breach of code of conduct by standards panel

Leicester City Council’s standards hearings sub-committee found that Cllr Patrick Kitterick, Green party member for the Castle ward, breached the code of conduct by failing to treat others with respect at a meeting of Full Council on 18 September 2025.

It was found that comments made by Cllr Kitterick regarding a fellow councillor taking member’s allowances were unwarranted and irrelevant to the debate. This was considered disrespectful and intended to humiliate.

It was recommended that Cllr Kitterick send a written apology to the councillor in question. It is also recommended that he attend training on the city council’s code of conduct.

The findings of the hearing panel, held on 21 April 2026, were endorsed at a meeting of the city council’s standards committee last night (7 May).

A report detailing the finding has now been published on the council’s website, as part of the agreed sanctions against Cllr Kitterick.

A separate complaint against Cllr Kitterick concerning disrespect displayed towards another councillor at the same meeting was not upheld. The panel found that, although the comments were offensive and designed to embarrass, they were broadly related to the issue under debate and therefore benefitted from protection afforded to political expression under Article 10(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Cllr Susan Barton, chair of the standards committee, said: “Our investigation of this complaint found that Cllr Kitterick did not conduct himself in the manner we expect of our elected members, and as set out in code of conduct.

“It is right that our findings be made public so that people have confidence that disrespectful behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated and has no place in our council chamber.

“People who serve our communities should never be subject to personal abuse.”

Prior to the investigation by the standards hearings sub-committee, Cllr Kitterick was invited by the city council’s Monitoring Officer to resolve the complaints informally by apologising, but he declined to engage.

A full report is available on the city council’s website here

This is the second time that Cllr Kitterick has been censured for breach of the city council’s code of conduct in the last year.

Leicester City Council News Published on Thursday, May 7, 2026