Complaints about councillors

The council has 62 councillors who are elected every four years. The next elections are due in May 2013. In addition the council has some co-opted members these are people who have been appointed (not elected) to serve on particular committees of the council. All councillors and co-opted members are required to undertake to comply with the member code of conduct adopted by the council. The Monitoring Officer is a senior officer of the council with responsibility for overseeing the ethical framework of the council.

The council first adopted the member code of conduct on 1 April 2002. It adopted a revised code to reflect statutory changes on 15 May 2007.

Code of Conduct (pdf, 35Kb)

Making a complaint

If you think a member has broken the council's Member Code of Conduct, then you can complain to the Monitoring Officer of the council in writing. Further advice on what you can complain about is set out below.

Complaint form (msword, 267Kb)

Email: monitoringofficer@warwickshire.gov.uk

Address:
Warwickshire County Council
PO Box 9
Warwick
CV34 4RR

Fax: 01926 412946

Your complaint must:

be about a councillor or co-opted member;
fall within the scope of the member code of conduct;
be about something that happened after the Code of Conduct was adopted (after 1 April 2002);
be made in writing to the Monitoring Officer.

Advice note (pdf, 31Kb) - advice on what you can complain about and the process before completing the complaint form.

What you can complain about under the Member Code of Conduct

Behaviour covered by the Code of Conduct 2007:

unlawfully discriminating against someone;
failing to treat people with respect;
bullying any person;
intimidating any person involved in any investigation or proceedings about someone's misconduct;
doing something to prevent those who work for the authority from being unbiased;
revealing information that was given to them in confidence, or stopping someone getting information they are entitled to by law;
damaging the reputation of their office or authority, where the conduct is linked to their public role and not in their private capacity;
using their position improperly, to their own or someone else's advantage or disadvantage;
misusing their authority's resources;
allowing their authority's resources to be misused for the activities of a registered political party;
failing to register financial or other interests;
failing to reveal a personal interest at a meeting;
taking part in the discussion or making a decision where they have an interest that is so significant that it is likely to affect their judgment (known as a 'prejudicial interest');
improperly influencing a decision about a matter that they have a prejudicial interest in;
failing to register any gifts or hospitality (including its source), that they have received in their role as a member worth over £25.

Behaviour covered by the Code of Conduct 2002

unlawfully discriminating against someone;
failing to treat people with respect;
doing something to prevent those who work for the authority from being unbiased;
revealing information that was given to them in confidence, or stopping someone getting information they are entitled to by law;
damaging the reputation of their office or authority;
using their position improperly, to their own or someone else's advantage or disadvantage;
misusing their authority's resources;
allowing their authority's resources to be misused for the activities of a registered political party;
failing to report another member's misconduct to us;
failing to register financial or other interests;
failing to reveal a personal interest at a meeting;
taking part in a meeting or making a decision where they have an interest that is so significant that it is likely to affect their judgment;
failing to register any gifts or hospitality that they have received in their role as a member worth over £25.

Complaints process

When we receive a complaint about something under the Code we refer it to a sub-committee of our Audit & Standards Committee for assessment. The decision to investigate or not rests with the assessment sub-committee. We focus only on allegations that we believe have the potential to damage the public's confidence in local democracy. You will be notified of our decision in writing. Normally this will be within 20 working days of us receiving the complaint.

When we receive a complaint our initial questions are:

is there a prima facie evidence of a code breach?
would investigation serve any useful purpose?
would an alternative route to investigation provide a more effective resolution? Is there scope for mediation, brokering, apology etc?
is the case suitable for local investigation?

Which complaints will we refer for investigation?

We decide that a matter should be investigated when we believe it meets one of the following criteria:

it is serious enough, if proven, to justify the range of sanctions available to our Audit & Standards Committee or the First-tier Tribunal Local Government Standards England;
it is part of a continuing pattern of less serious misconduct that is unreasonably disrupting the business of the authority and there is no other avenue left to deal with it, short of investigation;
in considering this, we will take into account the time that has passed since the alleged conduct occurred.

Which complaints are we unlikely to refer for investigation?

We are unlikely to decide that a complaint should be investigated if it falls into any of the following categories:

we believe it to be malicious, relatively minor, or tit-for-tat;
the same, or substantially similar, complaint has already been the subject of an investigation or inquiry and there is nothing further to be gained by seeking the sanctions available to our committee or the First-tier Tribunal;
the complaint concerns acts carried out in the member’s private life, when they are not carrying out the work of the authority or have not misused their position as a member;
it appears that the complaint is really about dissatisfaction with a council decision;
there is not enough information currently available to justify a decision to refer the matter for investigation;
except in the most serious of cases, conduct which might have been in breach of the original Code but would not be considered to be a breach of the revised Code of Conduct we adopted in May 2007.

It is also part of our function to deal with the review process. You are entitled to request a review of a decision not to refer a complaint for investigation. You should make this request, within 30 days of the referral decision, by writing or emailing the Monitoring Officer at the address above. You will then be notified of the resulting decision in writing. We also write to the member(s) that were complained about.

Following each Assessment and Review sub-committee a written summary is made available for public inspection at Shire Hall Warwick. Any person wishing to inspect the public written summary should contact the Democratic Services Manager at Shire Hall, Warwick Tel: 01926 412565 to make an appointment.

Standards for England - further information about the Member Code of Conduct.

Warwickshire County Council