Worcestershire County Council

Complaint Form - Conduct of Members

NB - to be used only for complaints that a County Councillor or a voting co-opted or independent member of one of the council’s committees has breached the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members when acting as a member - for complaints about staff, please use a different procedure.
Please note that fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory
1.Details of Complainant
Please provide us with your name and contact details 
NB Anonymous complaints will not be considered under this procedure
Address
Your address and contact details will not usually be circulated unless necessary to deal with your complaint.  However, we will normally tell the following people that you have made this complaint: 
the Member(s) complained about
the Monitoring Officer of the Council, and other officers with a need to know 
the Chairman and Vice-Chairman and other members of the Standards and Ethics Committee (including an Independent Person) as necessary
We will provide your name and give them either a summary or more usually full details of your complaint through forwarding the entire complaint form, and do this as soon as is practicable to the relevant member.  If you have serious concerns about your name and a summary/details of your complaint being released to the member/s you are complaining about, please complete section 5 of this form to request confidentiality.
2. Category of Complainant
Please tell us which category best describes you
3. Details of Member(s): 
Please provide us with the name of the member(s) (as applicable) of Worcestershire County Council you believe has or have breached the County Council's Code of Conduct :
Member 1
Member 2 (if applicable)
Member 3 (if applicable)
4. Details of Complaint
Please explain in this section what the member has done that you believe breaches the Code of Conduct. Remember that this complaint procedure only applies to conduct in carrying out their role as a member of the Council.

If you are complaining about more than one member you should explain clearly what each individual person has done that you believe breaches the Code of Conduct. It is important that you provide all the information you wish to have taken into account by the Council when it decides whether to take any action on your complaint.

You should be specific, wherever possible, about exactly what you are alleging the Member said or did. For instance, instead of writing that the Member insulted you, you should state exactly what it was they said.

You should provide dates of the alleged incidents wherever possible. If you cannot provide exact dates it is important to give a general timeframe.

You should confirm whether there are any witnesses to the alleged conduct and provide their names and contact details if possible.

You should provide any relevant background information. If insufficient information is provided, you may be asked for more before the complaint can be processed.
5. Request for Confidentiality (Optional) 
[Only complete this section if you are requesting that your identity or complaint is kept confidential]
In the interest of fairness and natural justice, we believe members who are complained about have a right to know who has made the complaint and what it contains. We also believe they have a right to be provided with this and full details or a summary of the complaint at the outset.  We are very unlikely to withhold your identity or the details of your complaint unless we have good reason to believe that if your identity is disclosed:
 
You have reasonable grounds to believe you will be at risk of physical harm or
You are an officer working closely with the Member in question and you fear the employment consequences or
It would create medical risks associated with a serious health condition

Please note that requests for confidentiality or suppression of complaint details will not normally be granted. The Monitoring Officer will make the initial decision should there be such a request in consultation as appropriate with the Chairman/Vice Chairman of the Committee or an Independent Person. If your request for confidentiality is not granted, you may have the option of withdrawing your complaint at that stage. However, it is important to understand that in 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 withdrawn your complaint - the Council will weigh up the public interest.
 
 NB: Even if details are withheld during the Monitoring Officer's initial deliberations, then should there be an investigation, only in truly exceptional circumstances will the member in question not be given full details of the complaint. Some complaints (e.g. bullying) may not be possible to investigate without disclosure of identity in any event.