Who can make the complaint and what can you complain about?
Anyone can make a complaint, as long as they have direct knowledge of the behaviour they are complaining about.
If you are a councillor, under your authority's code you must report any evidence which you have of breach of a fellow councillor breaking the code. But you also have a duty under the code not to make complaints which are vexatious (that is, they must not be made just to make mischief). If in doubt, you may find it helpful to have a word with your authority’s monitoring officer.
Examples of ways in which a member may break an authority’s code of conduct include:
- behaving in a way that negatively affects their authority's reputation;
- using their position unfairly to gain an advantage for themselves or someone else – or to do someone else down;
- improper use of their authority’s resources;
- failing to declare an interest;
- bullying behaviour;
- failing to treat everybody equally; and
- revealing confidential information about individuals without good reason.
