All complaints about the behaviour of individual
councillors now go directly to the council's
Standards Committee.
Local residents can complain to the
council's
Standards Committee about the behaviour of a district
councillor or a parish or town councillor in North Somerset in
relation to them:
- unlawfully discriminating against someone
- failing to treat others 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 council from
being unbiased
- revealing information given to them in confidence, or stopping
someone getting information to which they are legally entitled
- damaging the reputation of their office or council
- using their position improperly, to their own or someone else’s
advantage or disadvantage
- misusing their council’s resources
- allowing their council’s resources to be misused for the
activities of a registered political party
- failing to register financial or other prejudicial
interests
- failing to declare an 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 judgement
- failing to register gifts or hospitality they have received in
their role as a member worth over £25.
These arrangements do not include complaints
about:
- refusal of planning permission
- complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by local
councils
- outcome of School Admissions appeals.
To make a complaint about the behaviour of a councillor,
and find out more about the process, fill in our
councillor complaints form to tell us
what grounds you're complaining on. Send your completed form to
our Monitoring
Officer
The Monitoring Officer will then refer the complaint to the
Standards Committee’s Assessment Panel for an initial assessment
within four weeks.
The Assessment Panel will then make a decision on whether the
complaint should or should not be investigated.