All councillors - town, parish, borough and county - are bound by a Code of Conduct. This says that when they are acting in their official capacity, they have to obey certain rules about their behaviour, such as:
- not misusing their position to get an unfair advantage (or disadvantage) for someone;
- not bullying or harassing anyone;
- not releasing confidential information; and
- declaring that they, or a family member or close associate, has an interest in a matter that the council is discussing, and not participating when that interest is prejudicial.
The fulltext of the code can be found on The council's constitution in: Part 5- Codes and Protocols (PDF 267Kb)
If you want to complain that a St Edmundsbury Borough Councillor, or a councillor representing a town or parish within the borough, has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct then please contact the Monitoring Officer, Joy Bowes, on joy.bowes@stedsbc.gov.uk or 01284 757141 and she will send you the relevant form. Please note that all complaints have to be in writing and the councillor will normally be told who you are and what you have complained about. However, you can ask that your complaint be kept confidential and this request will be considered by the borough council's Standards Committee. (More information about the Standards Committee, who is on it an what it does, can be found in the council's constitution: Part 3 - Responsibility for Functions (PDF 371Kb) (Section C). Anonymous complaints will not be accepted.
What happens next is that the Standards Committee will consider whether your complaint should be investigated.If after an investigation it appears that there has been a breach of the code then a hearing will be held and the councillor given the chance to explain or defend his/her actions. The Standards Committee then decides whether there was a breach or not and if so what sanction should be imposed - this ranges from censure to six months' suspension.
More information about the Code of Conduct and the role of standards can be found on the website of the national body, the Standards Board for England at www.standardsboard.gov.uk.
If you want any clarification of the above, or to discuss whether a particular case is a breach of the Code or not, the Monitoring Officer will be happy to deal with your enquiries - contact Joy Bowes email: joy.bowes@stedsbc.gov.uk or phone: 01284 757141
