Make a complaint about a councillor

If you believe a councillor has breached the members code of conduct (found at Part 5A of the Council’s Constitution) and you wish to make a complaint,complete the Councillor / Co-opted Member Complaint form. 

A hard copy of this form can be provided if you wish to post it to us at the following address: 

The Monitoring Officer
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1EU

Councillor complaint guidance

In order to be investigated, a complaint must either:

• reveal a continuing pattern of behaviour that is significantly and unreasonably disrupting the business of the Council, and there is no other avenue left to deal with it other than by way of an investigation

Or, 

• It is about somebody who is still a councillor or co-opted member of the Council;
• has been received within three months of the alleged failure to comply with the code, unless there are exceptional circumstances for the delay and the delay does not mean that it would be difficult for a fair investigation to be carried out;
• raises matters which would be a breach of the code of conduct;
• is sufficiently serious to warrant investigation;
• is not 'tit for tat';
• appears not to be politically motivated;
• is not the same or similar to a complaint that has  already been investigated;
• is not an anonymous complaint (anonymous complaints will not be accepted)

Required information 

It is important that you provide all the information you wish to have taken into account. For example:

• be specific about exactly what you are alleging the member said or did. For example, instead of writing that the member insulted you, you should state what exactly was said
• provide the dates of the alleged incidents wherever possible - if you cannot provide exact dates it is important to give a general timeframe
• confirm whether there are any witnesses to the alleged conduct and provide their names and contact details if possible
• provide any relevant background information

Confidentiality

We will normally pass a copy of your complaint to the councillor so that they are able to comment. It is also in the interests of fairness and natural justice that a councillor should have the right to know who has made the complaint and what it is about.

In very exceptional circumstances, we may agree to withhold your name and address. We would only do this if we have a good reason to believe that to give your name or address to the councillor would be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice any investigation.

If your request for confidentiality is not granted, we will usually allow you the option of withdrawing your complaint. However, it is important to understand that in certain exceptional circumstances, where the matter complained about is very serious, we can proceed with an investigation or other action and disclose your name even if you have expressly asked us not to.

What happens when you submit a complaint

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days and will keep you informed of progress throughout the process.

On the basis of the information received, we will decide whether your complaint merits formal investigation. If we consider that it would be inappropriate for officers to take this decision (for example, if we have previously advised the member concerned on the matter, or the complaint is particularly sensitive or serious) we may refer the decision to investigate to our Audit, Governance and Standards Committee.

For more information on how we handle complaints and investigations, please refer to the Members Code of Conduct found at Part 5A of the Council’s Constitution. 

Appeals

There is no right of appeal for the complainant or the member against a decision of the Monitoring Officer or the Standards Sub-committee. If the complainant believes that the authority has failed to deal with the complaint properly, they may wish to make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.