Councillors’ Code of Conduct Complaint Form

Your Details

Please provide us with your name and contact details

Your address and contact details will not usually be released, unless it is necessary to deal with your complaint. However, we will tell the following people that you have made this complaint:-

The member(s) you are complaining about;

The Monitoring Officer;

The parish or town clerk (if applicable).

We will provide them with your name and a summary of your complaint. In certain circumstances, it may be necessary or appropriate for us to give them full details of your complaint, if this enables us to deal with it. If you have serious concerns about your name and a summary, or details, of your complaint being released, please complete page 3 of this form.

Title

First name

Last name

Address

Daytime telephone

Evening telephone

Mobile telephone

Email address

Please tell us which complainant type best describes you

Member of the publicAn elected or co-opted member of an authorityAn independent member of the Audit and Governance CommitteeMember of ParliamentLocal authority Monitoring OfficerOther council officer or authority employeeOther

Please give details

Please provide us with the name of the councillor(s) you believe has/have breached the Code of Conduct and the name of his/her/their authority/authorities:

Title

First name

Last name

Council or authority name

Please explain, in this section, what the councillor has done that you believe breaches the Code of Conduct.

If you are complaining about more than one councillor, you should clearly explain what each individual person has done that you believe breaches the Code of Conduct.

It is important that you provide all the information you wish to have taken into account by the Monitoring Officer when s/he (acting in consultation with the Independent Person) decides whether to take any action on your complaint. For example:

You should be specific, wherever possible, about exactly what you are alleging the councillor said or did. For instance, instead of writing that the councillor has conducted him/herself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing his/her office, or the authority, into disrepute, you should state what it was that s/he said or did.
You should provide the dates of the alleged incidents, wherever possible. If you cannot provide exact dates, it is important to give a general timeframe.
You should confirm whether there are any witnesses to the alleged conduct and provide their names and contact details, if possible.
You should provide any relevant background information.

Please provide us with the details of your complaint.

Only complete this section if you are requesting that your identity is kept confidential

In the interests of fairness and natural justice, we believe that members, who are the subject(s) of a complaint, have a right to know who has made the complaint and be provided with a summary of the complaint. We are unlikely to withhold your identity, or the details of your complaint, unless you have good reason to believe that we should.

Please note that requests for confidentiality, or requests for suppression of complaint details, will not automatically be granted. The Monitoring Officer will consider the request alongside the substance of your complaint. We will then contact you with the decision. If your request for confidentiality is not granted, we will usually allow you the option of withdrawing your complaint.

However, it is important to understand that, in certain exceptional circumstances, where the matter complained about is very serious, we can proceed with an investigation or other action and disclose your name, even if you have expressly asked us not to.

Please provide us with details of why you believe we should withhold your name and/or the details of your complaint

Complaints must be submitted in writing. This includes fax and electronic submissions. However, in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, we can make reasonable adjustments to assist you if you have a disability that prevents you from making your complaint in writing. We can also help if English is not your first language.

If you need any support in completing this form, please let us know as soon as possible by telephoning 01303 853000.

Full Name

Date