Complaining about a councillor

If you believe a District, Town or Parish Councillor within the Wealden District has breached their Code of Conduct you can submit a standards complaint to Wealden District Council’s Monitoring Officer.

These standards complaints are dealt with under a separate procedure to the Council’s complaints procedure. If you wish to make a complaint about an issue unrelated to councillor conduct, please see the Council’s complaints page Council Complaints Procedure

Before submitting a complaint, please consider whether the matter can be resolved without the need to submit a formal complaint. You are also encouraged to think about the outcomes you are seeking.

It should be noted that neither the Monitoring Officer nor the Standards Committee has powers to suspend or disqualify Members or to withdraw members’ or special responsibility allowances.

Recommendations that are available under this process:

• Publish its findings in respect of the member’s conduct
• Write a formal letter to the councillor found to have breached the code
• Report its findings to Council or to the Parish Council for information
• Seek formal censure by motion,
• Recommend to the member’s Group Leader (or in the case of un-grouped members, recommend to Council or to Committees) that he/she be removed from any or all Committees or Sub-Committees of the Council,
• Recommend to the Leader of the Council that the member be removed from the Cabinet, or removed from particular Portfolio responsibilities,
• Instruct the Monitoring Officer to or recommend that the Parish Council arrange training, mediation or other appropriate remedy, for the member.
• Recommend to Full Council or the Parish Council that the member be removed from all outside appointments to which he/she has been appointed or nominated by the authority or by the Parish Council;

To make a complaint, please use our online form via the link below.

Make a complaint online

You can also download and print out a complaint form and submit as below:

By post: The Monitoring Officer, Wealden District Council, Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, BN27 2AX.

By email: monitoring.officer@wealden.gov.uk

All complaints must be submitted in writing.

It is very important that you complete the form fully giving as much detail as possible as insufficient information may result in the complaint not progressing. 

You will be asked for your name, address and contact details.

Each Council has their own code which should be published on their website or you can contact the relevant Parish and Town Council Clerk to ensure your complaint is referring to the correct code. A copy of the Wealden District Council Code of Conduct can be accessed in the Glossary section.

It is important that you provide full details of the alleged misconduct, setting out clearly all of the information that you wish to be taken into account.

For example, please include:

• A clear explanation of what you consider the councillor has done (note that a separate form must be submitted for each councillor)
• specific descriptions about what a councillor said or did
• the dates of alleged incidents wherever possible
• confirm which areas of the Code of Conduct you consider have been breached (as set out in the complaints form)
• Attach supporting documents or evidence and confirm how they relate to the allegation

Before submitting a complaint, please read our Arrangements (see glossary) and the Explanatory Notes (see glossary).

Complaints submitted online will be acknowledged immediately. If the complaint form is submitted by post or email, we will acknowledge your complaint within five working days.

The sections below explain the complaint process and what you can expect.

The Initial Assessment stage involves the Monitoring Officer reviewing and making a decision as to whether a complaint falls with their remit (a jurisdictional test) and warrants further consideration.

The outcome of the initial assessment will usually be confirmed to the Complainant by the Monitoring Officer within four weeks of receipt of the complaint. This may need to be extended where the Monitoring Officer requires additional information.

As part of this stage, the Monitoring Officer may seek further clarification or relevant information from the Complainant and will usually notify the Subject Member of the complaint and given them the opportunity to respond. The Monitoring Officer may also inform the clerk of the relevant Parish or Town Council of the complaint and seek the views of the Parish or Town Council before deciding whether the complaint merits formal investigation.

1. Decision to take no action on the complaint*

*Note: this is referred to as deciding to take no further action in the Arrangements and Explanatory Notes.

Circumstances where a decision to take no action may be appropriate:

• complaint does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct
• Insufficient information provided to support the allegation(s)
• The complaint is the same or substantially the same as a complaint previously dealt with.
• The period which has elapsed since the alleged conduct is so significant that it is considered to be inequitable, unreasonable or otherwise not in the public interest to pursue (i.e. more than six months).
• The complaint discloses such a minor or technical breach of the Code of Conduct that it is not in the public interest to pursue.
• The complaint is or appears to be trivial, malicious, politically motivated, tit-for-tat or otherwise submitted with an improper motive and the complaint is not considered to disclose sufficiently serious potential breaches of the Code of Conduct to merit further consideration.
• The alleged conduct relates to the matters where the councillor was acting in a private capacity.
• The Subject Member has provided a satisfactory remedy to the complaint.
• The complaint is about a person who is no longer a Member of a relevant council.
• There is evidence to suggest a potential breach of the Code of Conduct but the circumstances do not warrant further action.

Where ‘no action’ is decided, notification will be sent to the complainant, the Subject Member and if applicable, the clerk to the relevant Town or Parish Council, setting out the reasons for the decision.

Details of the complaint remain confidential.

2. Informal Resolution (also referred to as ‘other action’)

Circumstances where a decision of ‘other action’ may be appropriate:

• Interpersonal conflicts
• Misunderstanding of procedures or protocols
• A general breakdown in relationships at a council where other action such as mediation might help.
• Complaints where the public interest in conducting an investigation does not justify the costs of such an investigation.
• Where there is behaviour indicating a lack of experience or the Member(s) may benefit from additional training or mentoring.
• Where it appears that the town/parish council would be best placed to resolve the issue.
• Where there is the same alleged breach of the Code of Conduct by many of the Council’s Members, indicating a poor understanding of the Code of Conduct and / or authority’s protocols and procedures.

‘Other action’ can include outcomes such as an apology, commitment to undertake training or taking part in mediation or facilitated discussion. Where appropriate it affords an opportunity for informal resolution between the Complainant and the Subject Member. It does not represent a finding of whether there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct.

If the Monitoring Officer decides ‘other action’ is appropriate, notification will be sent to the complainant, the Subject Member and if applicable, the clerk to the relevant Town or Parish Council, setting out the action taken with an explanation. 

Details of the complaint remain confidential.

The Monitoring Officer will deal with actions arising from a decision of ‘other action’.

3. Refer for Investigation

Where it is decided that a complaint merits formal investigation, the Monitoring Officer or the Deputy Monitoring Officer will appoint an Investigating Officer. At all times, the Monitoring Officer or a suitable appointed person maintains the function of overseeing the investigation.

Where ‘refer for investigation’ is decided, notification is sent to the Complainant and the Subject Member and, if applicable, the clerk to the relevant Town or Parish Council, setting out the reasons for the decision.  All parties involved are advised of the confidential nature of the investigation.

The timescale for producing a report will depend on the nature of the investigation.

On completion of an investigation, the monitoring officer may, following consultation with the Independent Person(s) decide:

• to take no further action;
• to seek to resolve the matter informally; or
• to refer the matter to a local hearing of the Standards Committee 

The Arrangements sets out information relating to investigations and includes a procedure for the investigation of complaints (see Appendix one) and for local hearings (see Appendix two).

Should the Monitoring Officer assess that the complaint may include criminal activity, they will consider a referral to the police or other external authority as appropriate. 

If your complaint or aspects of it are referred to the Police or other body for investigation the Monitoring Officer may adjourn this process and will notify you of this. 

There is no right of appeal to a decision on a Code of Conduct complaint.

Wealden District Council has two Independent Persons, one of whom shall be consulted as part of the consideration of any complaint. Their involvement at the various stages is detailed in the Arrangements.

Subject Members have the right to consult the Independent Person as part of the complaints process.

East Sussex Association of Local Councils

National Association of Local Councils

Factsheets produced by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in relation to Parish and Town Councils and Standards and Member Conduct:

Town and parish councils – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint/fact-sheets/other-topics/complaints-about-standards-and-member-conduct

If you have any questions about the complaints process or require any support or assistance in connection with your complaint please contact: monitoring.officer@wealden.gov.uk

‘Subject Member’ is a reference to the councillor who is the subject of a complaint.

‘Complainant’ is reference to the person submitting a formal complaint.

‘Independent Person’ means an independent person appointed under s.28(7) of the Localism Act 2011.

‘LGA Guidance’ is the guidance published on Member Model Code of Conduct Complaints Handling (2021) by the Local Government Association: LGA Code Conduct Complaints Handling Guidance

‘Arrangements’ is reference to the arrangements adopted by Wealden District Council pursuant to section 28(6) of the Localism Act 2011 to deal with complaints that its code of conduct has been breached, including arrangements for complaints to be investigated and decisions on allegations to be made Standards Arrangements

‘Wealden Code of Conduct’ means the code of conduct adopted by Wealden District Council contained with the Constitution Wealden Members’ Code of Conduct

These notes should be read in conjunction with the Arrangements.