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Complaints About Councillors

What is a complaint against a councillor?

A complaint against a councillor is an allegation that a councillor has not observed the Members Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct sets out rules about how councillors should behave and also requires them to disclose any personal interests they have.

When a councillor signs up to the Code of Conduct they must comply with the following:

• To act solely in the public interest and never improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person or act to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, friends or close associates
• Not to place themselves under a financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties
• To make all decisions on merit when carrying out public duties, such as making public appointments, awarding contracts or recommending individuals for rewards or benefits
• To be accountable for their decisions to the public and to co-operate fully with whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office
• To be as open as possible about their decisions and actions and the decisions and actions of their authority and to be prepared to give reasons for those decisions and actions
• To register and declare any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests, as set out in the Code
• When using or authorising the use by others of the resources of this authority, to ensure that such resources are not used improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes) and to have regard to any applicable Local Authority Code of Publicity made under the Local Government Act 1986
• To behave in accordance with all our legal obligations, alongside any requirements contained within this authority's policies, protocols and procedures, including on the use of the authority's resources and dealing with confidential information appropriately
• To value and respect colleagues, staff, partners and public, engaging with them in an appropriate manner that underpins the mutual respect between us that is essential to good local government and not to act in a manner that could be deemed as bullying, harassment or intimidation
• To promote and support high standards of conduct by leadership and by example

The Code of Conduct is included at Chapter 7 in the Council's Constitution.

How to make a complaint about a Councillor

You can complain to the Council's Monitoring Officer that a councillor has not observed the Code of Conduct. Any complaint should be made using an appropriate complaint form (see how to access PDF files).

• 
  Councillor Complaint Form (PDF 56.6kB)
  
  
• 
  Councillor Complaint Form (MS Word 93kB)

The complaint form is also available on request from Legal & Democratic Services.

You should send your complaint to:

• The Monitoring Officer
• Thurrock Council
• Civic Offices
• New Road
• Grays
• Essex
• RM17 6SL

You should say which councillor you are complaining about and why you think they are in breach of the Code of Conduct. Please include as much information as possible to support your complaint, together with the remedy or remedies you are looking for or hoping to achieve by submitting this complaint.

How are complaints against Councillors dealt with?

The Council's Monitoring Officer will receive and assess all complaints and after consulting the Council's Independent Persons, will determine whether the complaint should be investigated.

The Monitoring Officer may request further evidence or information to be provided to support the complaint or may ask for an initial response from the councillor subject to the complaint in order to assist with their determination of the complaint that has been made.

If the Monitoring Officer considers that they can resolve the complaint through informal mediation or discussion, they may take this step before determining whether a complaint should be investigated.

The Monitoring Officer will inform the complainant and the councillor in writing of their decision within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. If the Monitoring Officer is not able to respond within this time, they will inform the complainant and councillor of the date by which a decision will be made.

Investigations into complaints

If the complaint is to be investigated, the Monitoring Officer will arrange for this to be done by either an officer of the Council or an independent investigator. The Monitoring Officer may provide terms of reference for the investigation, which will focus on investigation of the factual evidence in support or against the allegation. The councillor that is the subject of the complaint has a duty to co-operate with the investigation.

An investigation should take no longer than 2 months from the date of the appointment of the investigator, unless the Monitoring Officer agrees that the investigation period should be extended. The Investigator will then provide a written report to the Monitoring Officer in respect of the allegations.

The Monitoring Officer will then report the matter to the Members' Advisory Panel, who will conduct a local hearing to consider whether the councillor has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and if so, whether to recommend action in respect of the councillor to the Monitoring Officer.

The Council has agreed arrangements for dealing with complaints against councillors. These are set out in the Council's Constitution and give more detail about how any investigation will be conducted, what happens after an investigation (including hearings by the Members Advisory Panel) and the role of the Independent Persons.

Are there any matters that are not normally suitable for investigation?

The following complaints are normally not suitable for investigation, except where the Monitoring Officer accepts there are exceptional circumstances:

• Complaints that are really about Council services, its policies or performance. Such complaints will be referred to the relevant service area in accordance with the Council's Complaints Policy
• Complaints that are really about the political policies or performance of a councillor in their role. Such complaints will be referred to the councillor and / or their political group for response
• Complaints that relate to another authority or an alleged breach of another authority or body's Code of Conduct
• Vexatious or frivolous complaints or complaints which are intended to insult individuals
• Minor or "tit-for-tat" complaints that do not justify the time and resources of an investigation
• Complaints which relate to matters or events more than 3 months before the date when the complainant first became aware of the matters or events
• Complaints by a member against another member will not normally be investigated until the Monitoring Officer considers that other processes, e.g. informal mediation or political group processes have been exhausted
• Complaints by officers should be first made under the Member / Officer Protocol
• Complaints that are already subject to other internal or external processes will not be investigated until those other processes have completed to enable the complaint to be resolved by other means. Determination of such complaints will be suspended until the other process is finalised

This procedure does not replace the Council's Corporate Complaints Procedure. If you are unhappy with something the Council has done or failed to do, you should use the Corporate Complaints Procedure.

Right to review the decision of the Monitoring Officer

The person who has submitted the complaint has 7 days from the date of the Monitoring Officer's letter to ask for a review of a decision not to investigate a complaint.

The application for review must be submitted in writing to the Monitoring Officer and should clearly set out the reasons for requesting the review.

The review will be determined by the Council's Chief Executive. If the Chief Executive considers the review should be upheld, the complaint will be investigated.

What is the Members Advisory Panel?

The role of the Members Advisory Panel is to conduct a hearing into an allegation that a councillor has breached the Code of Conduct. Following a Hearing, the Panel make one of the following recommendations to the Monitoring Officer:

• That the Member has not failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and no further action needs to be taken in respect of the matters considered at the Hearing
• That the Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct but that no further action needs to be taken in respect of the matters considered at the Hearing
• That the Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and that a sanction and/or an informal resolution should be imposed

The Members Advisory Panel may recommend to the Monitoring Officer any action or combination of actions available, or recommend any informal resolution or combination of informal resolutions as are available by law or policy.

After making a finding the Members Advisory Panel shall, as soon as reasonably practicable provide written notice of its recommendations and the reasons for its decision to Monitoring Officer, the Member and complainant.

Further information on making complaints about councillors

If you require further information in respect of making complaints about councillors, please contact:

• The Monitoring Officer
• Thurrock Council
• Civic Offices
• New Road
• Grays
• Essex
• RM17 6SL

You can also e-mail legal.services@thurrock.gov.uk

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