Complaints about Standards and Councillor Conduct
Information for anyone who is unhappy with the conduct of a councillor within Wealden and is considering making a complaint to the Monitoring Officer at Wealden District Council
Yes, all councils are required to have a local Member Code of Conduct and all councillors agree to a Code of Conduct when they take up the role of a district, town or parish councillor in Wealden District.
The Codes of Conduct cover a variety of matters including obligations relating to:
- Respect
- Bullying, harassment, and discrimination
- Impartiality
- Confidentiality
- Disrepute
- Use of resources
- Registering and declaring interests
- Gifts and hospitality
Each Council has their own code of conduct which should be published on their website, or you can contact your Parish or Town Council’s clerk.
It sets out the conduct expected of all councillors. The overarching aim is to create and maintain public confidence in the role of members and local government.
No, the Codes only apply when they are acting in their capacity as a councillor, which may include when their actions would give the impression to a reasonable member of the public with knowledge of all the facts that they are acting as a councillor.
No, neither the Monitoring Officer or the Standards Committee has powers to suspend or disqualify councillors or to withdraw councillor or special responsibility allowances.
For more information please go to our complaining about a councillor page.
You can make a complaint to the Monitoring Officer at Wealden District Council. Before submitting a complaint we encourage you to consider the information and guidance from our complaining about a councillor page.
Formal complaints must be submitted in writing and an online form can be accessed (under the heading ‘How to make a complaint’ on our complaining about a councillor page). We can also provide a printed copy and support you with submitting a complaint.
No, the Monitoring Officer only has jurisdiction to deal with allegations about the conduct of a councillor. Parish and town councils are separate legal entities, responsible for their own general governance and should have separate arrangements in place for complaints to be raised at a local level. Wealden District Council has no jurisdiction to consider other complaints about them, for example about the way in which the parish/town council has or has not done something, or about particular parish/town council decisions or their employees or information governance matters.
Only in exceptional circumstances would a person making a complainant be granted confidentiality. As a matter of fairness and natural justice, the identity of the person making a complaint would normally be disclosed to the councillor who is the subject of the complaint.