Additional Guidance on Submitting Complaints

Are you using the correct form?

The points listed below will help you decide whether this is the correct form to use when making your complaint.  You should speak to the Council's Monitoring Officer 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 member(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 member, cannot be considered by the Standards 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 Council's Monitoring Officer 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 members of the following authorities:

Stafford Borough Council Adbaston Parish Council Barlaston Parish Council Berkswich Parish Council Bradley Parish Council Brocton Parish Council Chebsey Parish Council Church Eaton Parish Council Colwich Parish Council Creswell Parish Council Doxey Parish Council Eccleshall Parish Council Forton Parish Council Fulford Parish Council Gnosall Parish Council Haughton Parish Council High Offley Parish Council Hilderstone Parish Council

Hixon Parish Council Hopton and Coton Parish Council Hyde Lea Parish Council Ingestre with Tixall Parish Council Milwich with Fradswell Parish Council Norbury Parish Council Ranton Parish Council Salt and Enson Parish Council Sandon and Burston Parish Council Seighford Parish Council Standon Parish Council Stone Rural Parish Council Stone Town Council Stowe by Chartley Parish Council Swynnerton Parish Council Weston with Gayton Parish Council Whitgreave Parish Council

• Your complaint must be that the member(s) has, or may have, breached the Code of Conduct.  You may also contact the Council's Monitoring Officer 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.  These complaints are dealt with under the Council's corporate complaints process.
  
• Your complaint must be in writing.  If a disability prevents you from making your complaint in writing you may contact the Council's Monitoring Officer 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 referral criteria.  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?

The Assessment Sub Committee of the Standards 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.  The Sub Committee will only consider your written complaint and 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 Sub Committee to consider.

The Assessment Sub Committee may make one of the following 3 decisions:

• that no further action be taken;
• that the complaint be referred to the Monitoring Officer for investigation or other action;
• that the complaint be referred to the Standards Board for England for investigation.

The criteria that will be used to assess your complaint and decide whether it should be investigated is the Assessment Criteria.

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 member(s) you have complained about and the parish or town clerk (if it involves a parish or town councillor).  We will send these letters within five working days of the Sub Committee reaching its decision.  The decision of the Sub Committee is made available for public inspection once the member the complaint is about has been given a summary of the complaint.  In very limited situations the member may not be given this summary immediately and if so any public inspection will not happen until the member 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 whehter other action is appropriate.  If the Assessment Sub Committee decides to refer your complaint for other action we will explain what this involves.

Council's Monitoring Officer

Alistair Welch
Head of Law and Administration
Stafford Borough Council
Civic Centre
Riverside
Stafford
ST16 3AQ