Please note the Monitoring Officer can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a member and cannot receive complaints about things that are not covered by the Members' code of conduct, such as maladministration.
If your complaint is about a town or parish councillor, then you should contact the relevant town or parish council first to make your complaint.
Councillor code of conduct
All councils should adopt a code of conduct for their councillors.
This code of conduct applies to all forms of communication and interaction, including;
- at face-to-face meetings
- at online or telephone meetings
- in written communication
- in verbal communication
- in non-verbal communication
- in electronic and social media communication, posts, statements and
comments.
Please read our full Councillor code of conduct [PDF, 0.3MB] before submitting your complaint to our monitoring officer, you will need to evidence why you believe the Code of Conduct has not been followed.
If you are complaining about a Parish or Town councillor please read their adopted code of conduct to identify which aspect of their adopted code of conduct you believe has been breached.
Your complaint will be assessed in accordance with appendices D and E of the ethical handbook. [PDF, 0.6MB]
After you submit your complaint
Within 5 working days of getting your complaint, the monitoring officer will:
- confirm they received your complaint
- contact the councillor that you have complained about with a copy of your complaint and the evidence
- ask the councillor complained about to give a written response to your complaint along with evidence, within 5 working days.
The Council’s Civic Affairs Committee oversee complaints about councillors.
Advice on making a complaint
For further help and advice you can:
- visit the Local Government Ombudsman website for advice about making a complaint
- get free independent advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.