Councillors' Code of Conduct
The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to adopt a Code of Conduct that sets out
- the rules governing the behaviour of Councillors when acting in their official capacity
- the Declaration of Interests for their Councillors when acting in their official capacity
We adopted our Code of Conduct on 22 April 2024 and this is published in Chapter 3 of our Constitution.
Complaints about Councillors
The Localism Act 2011 requires the Council to have arrangements to;
- deal with complaints that Councillors have not followed the code of conduct
- investigate any complaints against a Councillor
- determine the outcome of the complaint
If you want to make a complaint about a Councillor, you must do it in writing. You can make your complaint using our online form - Complain about a Councillor
To complete this form you will need:
- your name
- your phone number
- your email address
- name of the Councillor or Councillors you are complaining about
- details about the complaint
The Monitoring Officer can receieve complaints about the alleged behaviour and conduct of:
- Braintree District Council Councillors
- Parish Councillors of the 52 parish councils in our district
- Town Councillors of the two town councils in our district
The Monitoring Officer is unable to receive complaints about Essex County Councillors, these complaints should be referred to the Monitoring Officer at Essex County Council - further information on how you may do this is available here: Your councillor: Complain about a councillor | Essex County Council
Our Councillor complaint arrangements do not deal with complaints about:
- our services, departments or policies.
- Parish or Town Clerks or other employees/volunteers
- Decisions of Committee of the Councils including Parish and Town Councils
- matters not covered by the Code of Conduct
Read our make a complaint page to find out how we may deal with these types of complaints.
Managing your complaint
Our Monitoring officer will use our process for handling complaints to deal with your complaint which set out in the Code of Conduct Complaints Policy.
Our Monitoring Officer will review every complaint we receive using the assessment criteria set out in the Code of Conduct Complaints Policy.
During the review, our Monitoring Officer will consult with our appointed independent person before deciding if your complaint:
- merits no further action
- merits early informal resolution or mediations; or
- merits further investigation
In the initial assessment of a complaint the Monitoring Officer may need more information from you or from the Councillor you have complained about to help them come to a decision. If additional information is not provided following the Monitoring Officer's request, they will assess the complaint on the information that they have at that time.
If you are unsure about any aspect of the process, you may wish to contact our Monitoring Officer or Deputy Monitoring Officer before submitting your complaint.
Our Monitoring Officer
Our Monitoring Officers are
- Kim Mayo, Monitoring Officer
- Emma Wisbey, Deputy Monitoring Officer
We appoint our Monitoring Officer under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Independent Persons
The role of the independent person is set out in Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011.
The independent person’s views must be sought, and taken into account, by the Monitoring Officer when considering an allegation in respect of a breach of the Code of Conduct.
Standards Committee
We have appointed a Standards Committee which will hear complaints which have been referred to it by the Monitoring Officer. The hearing procedure for the Standards Committee is set out in the Code of Conduct Complaints Policy.
