Complaints about Councillors

Tendring District Council have adopted a Code of Conduct to ensure that they comply with Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011. The code sets out principles and obligations that your Councillor must follow to maintain high standards and accountability.

The District Council has also adopted a new way of dealing with complaints about District Councillors. Copies of the Code, the Standards Committee Terms of Reference, the Complaints Procedure and Complaints Form can all be accessed by clicking on the links below.

What can’t be dealt with as a complaint under the Code

The Code cannot be used to complain about anything a Councillor does, purely as a private individual. There is also a different procedure to follow if you want to complain about the decisions or actions the Council has taken, and you can access the How to Complain page here.

What to do if you think a Councillor has breached the Code of Conduct

You can make a complaint if you think Councillor’s behaviour may be in breach of the Code. This includes any failure to disclose or register interests they may have in decisions taken by the Council, but only where they were acting in their official capacity as a Councillor.

The downloads below detail the Council’s processes to deal with your complaint from start to finish.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Councillors are required to declare all interests they have under any of the categories referred to in the Code. They must also disclose these interests immediately after they are elected as Councillors and whenever they are involved in a Council decision that may affect these interests. They must also notify the Council’s Monitoring Officer, so that they can be added to the register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

View the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and the rules surrounding them here.

How to Complain

If you would like to make a complaint about a Councillor, please use the Complaints Form available below. The documents detailing the Complaints Procedure explain how your complaint will be handled.

Decision Notices - Standards Committee and Town and Parish Standards Sub-Committee

The outcome of hearings held by the Standards Committee and Town and Parish Councils Standards Sub-Committee can be viewed below:

Decision Notices - Monitoring Officer

Under the District Council's Complaints Procedure, certain decisions have been delegated to the Monitoring Officer, in the spirit of openness and transparency, these decisions are recorded and can be viewed below: