Complaints about a councillor

Any complaint should make it clear who it is about and why you think they have not followed the Code of Conduct that is applicable to them.

This process does not apply to complaints that are about:

• People employed by the council (unless co-optees of the Health and Well-being Board).
• Incidents that happened before a member was elected or chosen to serve.
• Incidents that happened before Kirklees Council adopted the form Code of Conduct for Members on 24 October 2012 (different dates will be applicable to the parish and town councils - depending on when their Codes of Conduct were formally approved).
• The way a council conducts or records its meetings.
• The way a council as a whole has or has not done something. This may be a matter for the Local Government Ombudsman if the council has not dealt with the matter properly and it has not been resolved locally.
• Decisions of the council or which are about one of the services it provides. In this case, you should ask how to complain using the relevant council's own complaints system.

If the Monitoring Officer cannot consider your complaint we will let you know and tell you who will consider your complaint.

The Monitoring Officer will review every complaint received and may consult with the Independent Person before reaching a preliminary decision.

Where the Monitoring Officer requires additional information in order to come to a decision, they may come back to you for such information.

The options available include:

• Taking the complaint through the formal standards process which may result in a finding of breach which would be reported through a Decision Notice that would be published on the Kirklees website.
• Informal resolution through, for example, seeking an apology from the member who is the subject of the complaint or attempts at conciliation.
• No further action.

In appropriate cases, the Monitoring Officer may seek to resolve the complaint informally. Such informal resolution may involve the subject member accepting that their conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology, or other remedial action by the authority. Where the subject member or the authority make a reasonable offer of local resolution, but you are not willing to accept that offer, the Monitoring Officer will take account of this in deciding whether the complaint merits formal investigation.

If the complaint is to proceed through the formal standards process, the Monitoring Officer will provide a copy of the complaint to the member who is the subject of that complaint ("the subject member") and provide them with an opportunity to respond to the allegations made against them. If they do respond, the complainant will have the opportunity to comment on their response. The subject member's comments will be taken into account before any decision is made.

Following this, the Monitoring Officer will consult with the Kirklees Council Group Business Managers who are part of the Assessment Panel, along with the Independent Person and the Chair of the Standards Committee. The Monitoring Officer, Independent Person and the Chair of Standards will then make a decision about whether there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct.

A decision will be made as soon as possible after any investigation is completed and, in the case of a complaint that is taken through the formal standards process, as soon as possible after the Assessment Panel has met. When the decision makers have reached their conclusions, they will inform you of their decision and the reasons for that decision.

Depending on the nature of the complaint, the Monitoring Officer may refer the matter for formal investigation to the Standards Sub - Committee. See form Part 2 : Articles of the ConstitutionArticle 9.4 for more information.

If your complaint identifies criminal conduct or breach of other regulations by any person, the Monitoring Officer has the power to inform the Police and other regulatory agencies.

There is no right of appeal against the decision about what steps, if any, the Council intends to take in relation to your complaint. If you feel that the authority has failed to deal with your complaint properly, you may make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman, who will have the power to determine if the complaint has been investigated properly. Please note that they do not have the power to overturn the decision itself.