Making a code of conduct complaint about a councillor who is failing to act!

Question

If a councillor in a role on the council, fails to perform the duties expected of them in that role, (but is fairly secure in their position because they are a member of a majority group) can a complaint be made under the code of conduct? and under the new LGA Model CoC, what would you suggest?

Answer 1

Any councillor can make a complaint. In the first instance your PC should have a complaints procedure policy. If so follow this. If the complaint is not dealt with by this method then you can use the MO pathway but they will only investigate and rule on code of conduct issues. It may well be that you feel that the code has been breached. What you need to do is to be able to provide hard evidence to the MO of the breach ( documents, minutes, statements, emails etc. etc.) because hearsay or gossip carried no weight with the MO. SO- gather as much material evidence to prove the complaint and be prepared to stand by your principles even in the face of criticism from some quarters around you.

Comments

Just bear in mind that the MO only deals with code of conduct complaints and not complaints that the councillor is simply incompetent.  Anyone can make a complaint to the MO about an alleged code of conduct breach by a councillor (or any authority).
The difficulty arises when the complaint is more about the way the councillor undertakes council business which is not related to the code of conduct.  Then the complaint should be a complaint against the council rather than the councillor, using their complaints procedures.

---

When the councillor has a significant role in the council and does not fulfil it, it’s more than just incompetence, although I’m sure that this plays a part. They continue in the role while being partial and obstructive, but I cannot see a part of the code of conduct which applies. I’ll put a complaint in anyway and say ‘not impartial’ and see how far I get. I understand through experience that they do not take up any old whingeings but it’s worth alerting them (over and over again).