Councillors' Conduct
Councillors' Conduct Guidance Notes
* for the purpose of this guidance the term ‘Councillor’
includes independent/co-opted members of the Council
The points listed below will help you decide whether this is the
correct procedure for your complaint. You should speak to the
contact name listed at the end of this guidance if you are not
clear if the Standards Committee can consider your complaint. The
Assessment Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee will make the
decision about what action, if any, to take on your complaint.
- Your complaint must be about conduct that
occurred while the Councillor(s) complained about were in office.
Conduct of an individual before they were elected, co-opted or
appointed to the authority, or after they have resigned or
otherwise ceased to be a Councillor, cannot be considered by the
Assessment Sub-Committee.
- The Code of Conduct came into effect on 5 May
2002, although some authorities adopted the Code of Conduct
earlier. If your complaint concerns matters that occurred before 5
May 2002 you should contact the contact officer (see end of this
guidance) before making your complaint to check whether it is
within the jurisdiction of the Assessment Sub-Committee to
consider.
- Your complaint must be about one or more
named Councillors of Havant Borough Council.
- Your complaint must be that the Councillor(s)
has, or may have, breached the Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code
of Conduct and frequently asked questions about the Code of Conduct
are available at the Standards Board for
England website. You may also contact any of the officers
listed at the end of this guidance if you require further
information.
- Complaints about dissatisfaction with a
decision or action of the authority or one of its committees, a
service provided by the authority or the authority’s procedures do
not fall within the jurisdiction of the Standards Committee.
Complaints about the actions of people employed by the authority
also do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Standards
Committee.
- Your complaint must be in writing. If a
disability or language issue prevents you from making your
complaint in writing you may contact Havant Borough Council
Customer Services 023 9244 6619 for assistance.
It is important to note that not every
complaint that falls within the jurisdiction of the Standards
Committee will be referred for investigation or other action. The
Assessment Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee must decide
whether this is appropriate. It will make this decision using local
assessment criteria that can be accessed on the Standards Committee. If the Assessment
Sub-Committee decides not to refer your complaint for investigation
or other action it will give you the reasons for this decision. It
will also explain any right that you may have to ask for the
decision to be reviewed.
What happens once you submit your
complaint?
When you submit your complaint we will write
to you to let you know we have received it. We will also tell the
Councillor that you are complaining about that we have received
your complaint, who made the complaint and the relevant paragraphs
of the Code of Conduct that it is alleged may have been
breached.
The Assessment Sub-Committee will then meet to
consider your complaint and decide whether it should be referred
for investigation or other action. This will happen within an
average of 20 working days of the date we receive your complaint.
Meetings of the Assessment Sub-Committee are ‘closed’, which means
that you will not be able to attend. It is therefore very important
that you set your complaint out clearly and provide at the outset
all the information you wish the Assessment Sub-Committee to
consider.
The criteria that will be used to assess your
complaint and decide whether it should be investigated can be
accessed on the Standards Committee page.
When the Assessment Sub-Committee has reached
its decision we will notify you in writing whether your complaint
has been referred for investigation or other action. At the same
time we write to you, we will also write to the Councillor(s) you
have complained about . We will send these letters within five
working days of the Assessment Sub-Committee reaching its decision.
The decision of the Assessment Sub-Committee is made available for
public inspection once the Councillor the complaint is about has
been given a summary of the complaint. In very limited situations
the Councillor may not be given this summary immediately and if so
any public inspection will not happen until the Councillor does get
the summary.
What is meant by ‘other action’?
The Assessment Sub-Committee may decide to
refer your complaint for ‘other action’ instead of referring it for
investigation. Other action is a deliberately broad term that may
include options such as requiring the person you have complained
about to apologise or undergo training or mediation. The Assessment
Sub-Committee will carefully consider the circumstances surrounding
your complaint when deciding whether other action is appropriate.
If the Assessment Sub-Committee decides to refer your complaint for
other action we will explain what this involves.
How should I set out my complaint?
It is very important that you set your
complaint out fully and clearly, and provide all the information at
the outset. You should also provide any documents or other material
that you wish the Assessment Sub-Committee to consider, where
possible. Unless the authority advises you otherwise, you will not
be able to attend the meeting of the Assessment Sub-Committee.
We recommend that you use our complaint form
or provide a covering note summarising what you are complaining
about, especially if your complaint includes a lot of supporting
documentation. In the summary you should tell us exactly what each
person you are complaining about said or did that has caused you to
complain. If you are sending supporting documentation please
cross-reference it against the summary of your complaint.
You should be as detailed as possible and
substantiate your complaint where you can. Although you are not
required to prove your complaint at this stage of proceedings, you
do have to demonstrate that you have reasonable grounds for
believing that the Councillor(s) complained about has breached the
Code of Conduct.
Contact names:
Monitoring Officer: Mrs Jo
Barden-Hernandez tel. 023 92446212
Paul.griffith@havant.gov.uk
Deputy Monitoring Officer: Mrs Shirley
Shaw tel. 023 9244 6674
Shirley.shaw@havant.gov.uk
Democratic Services Team Leader : Mr Lee
Abraham tel. 023 9244 6230
Lee.abraham@havant.gov.uk
Postal address for submission of Complaint
Forms
Monitoring Officer
Havant Borough Council
Public Service Plaza
Civic Centre Road
Havant
PO9 2AX
Email address for Submission
of Complaint Forms