We provide external investigation of complaints against councillors under the local authority code of conduct
The Localism Act 2011 required local authorities to adopt arrangements including a Code of Conduct for members and how any alleged breaches should be investigated. Councilor complaints are handled or overseen by Winston Brown a former Deputy Monitoring officer and Head of Law for a number of London local authorities.
Winston has investigated a wide range of member complaints including the following broad issues:

• Complaint that a councillormade an offensive comment in a public meeting
• Complaint that a chair of licensing sub-committee was biased and had predetermined an application before the sub-committee
• Complaint that leader of BNP made racist comments against applicants in a planning committee meeting
• Complaint that a councillorfailed to respond to communications from a resident
• Complaint that a member subjected a member of the public to bullying and harassment in a public meeting
• Complaint of sexual harassment against a member
In many cases the local authority will wish to externalize the investigation as it may be too sensitive to handle in house. There may alsobe limited capacity in house to conduct the investigation
When we are engaged to conduct the investigation we will in collaboration with the local authority:
• Introduce ourselves to the subject member and complainant and advise them of the process to followed and the timescales
• Interview the complainant subject member and any other relevant witnesses
• Review relevant evidence
• Produce a draft report for comment by complainant and subject member within a defined timescale
• Produce a final report for the Monitoring Officer

We are able to attend and present our report to the local standards committee or any other committee or the council if required
We understand the need for confidentiality and timeliness and will define a robust investigation report
We have conducted several member investigations for various local authorities and understand can bring a wealth of experience to any investigation.

Contact us now for an initial discussion in confidence