Complaints about Councillors

We aim to uphold high ethical standards among Councillors and Co-opted members of the Council. This page explains how you can complain about a Councillor if you feel there has been a failure to uphold the standards.

This information explains how the Council will deal with complaints against Councillors and Co-opted members of Committees and Sub-Committees.

What is a complaint against a councillor?

A complaint against a Councillor is an allegation that a Councillor has not observed the Code of Conduct for Members.

This procedure will not be used if the matter concerns a Council policy or a Councillor's decision to support or to refuse to support a cause.

This procedure does not replace the Council's Corporate Complaints Procedure. If you are unhappy with something the Council has done or failed to do, you should use the Corporate Complaints Procedure.

Making a complaint

You can complain to the Council's Monitoring Officer that a Councillor has not observed the Code of Conduct for Members.

You should send your complaint to:

The Monitoring Officer
Newcastle City Council
Civic Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QH

Any complaint should be made using an appropriate complaint form (pdf, 144Kb) which is also available from the Council's Assistant Director Legal Services, or Service Manager Democratic Services.

How are complaints dealt with?

The Monitoring Officer will look at your complaint and, after consulting the Council's Independent Persons, decide if it merits formal investigation.

The Monitoring Officer will take the assessment criteria into account in deciding what action, if any, to take.

In appropriate cases, the Monitoring Officer may try to resolve your complaint informally.

The Council has agreed arrangements (pdf, 208kb) for dealing with standards allegations against Councillors. These give more detail about how any investigation will be conducted, what happens after an investigation (including hearings by the Council's Standards Committee) and the role of the Independent Persons.

More information

You can download a copy of:

• The Council's arrangements (pdf, 208kb) for dealing with complaints against Councillors
• The Code of Conduct
• Member/Officer Relations Protocol
  (Newcastle Charter, Part 5.4A, Codes and Protocols)
• Planning Committee Matters Protocol
  (Newcastle Charter, Part 5.4C, Codes and Protocols)
• Regulatory and Appeals Committee Protocol
  (Newcastle Charter, Part 5.4D, Codes and Protocols)
• Licensing Committee Protocol
  (Newcastle Charter, Part 5.4E, Codes and Protocols)

These are also available from the Council's Community and Information Hubs and Libraries.

You can get further advice from the Service Manager Democratic Services at the Civic Centre.  Email: linda.scott@newcastle.gov.uk

Further help

You can contact an independent person or organisation, such as:

• your MP
• a solicitor
• The Citizens Advice Bureau - Citizens Advice Bureaux provide free confidential, impartial advice on a range of issues including housing, welfare benefits, consumer, debt and employment.

Ombudsman

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about councils. It aims to get councils to put things right if they have gone wrong and if this has affected you directly.

You can contact the Local Government Ombudsman about your complaint at any time. You can get leaflets about how to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman from any of our Community and Information Hubs, Libraries and Sports Centres.

The Ombudsman's address and telephone number are listed below.

• Write to: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
• Phone: 0300 061 0614
• Text 'callback': 0762 481 1595
• Website: http://www.lgo.org.uk/