Complaining about a County Councillor
From 1 July 2012 the responsibility for considering complaints
that a councillor may have breached the Kent Code of Conduct for
Members places the responsibility on the Monitoring Officer for
deciding, in consultation with the Independent Person whether an
allegation of misconduct of the councillor warrants
investigation. If the Monitoring Officer after consulting the
Independent Person considers the alleged complaint warrants
consideration then a Hearing Panel will be convened. The Hearing
Panel comprises of three councillors who are members of the
county council's Standards Committee. There is no right of appeal
in respect of a decision of the alleged misconduct of a
councillor.
What this means to you
Kent's county councillors all adhere to the Kent Code
of Conduct for Members. If you want to complain about the conduct
of a councillor of Kent County Council you can:
Please post completed forms to:
Peter Sass
Kent County Council
Sessions House
County Hall
Maidstone
Kent ME14 1XQ
The Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Independent
Person, and if appropriate the Standards
Committee can only deal with complaints about the conduct of a
councillor. It will not deal with complaints about things that are
not covered by the Kent Code of Conduct for Members. If you make a
complaint you must be clear why you think a member has not followed
the Kent Code of Conduct for Members.
The Standards Committee is responsible for promoting and
maintaining high standards for the Members' code of conduct as well
as resolving complaints about individual councillors.
Independent Person
The Independent Person must be consulted and have their views
taken into account before the Authority makes a finding as to
whether a Member has failed to comply with the Code or decides on
action to be taken in respect of that Member. At any other stage of
the complaints process under these arrangements the Independent
Person may be consulted by the Monitoring Officer and/or the
Subject Member.
Compliment or comment about a
service