Councillor Complaints

How to make a complaint about a councillor

If you want to complain about the conduct of a member of Ashford Borough Council or a member of one of the parish or town councils in the Ashford borough you must submit a Code of Conduct complaint form to:

The Monitoring Officer
The Directors' Suite, Level 2
Ashford Borough Council
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent TN23 1PL

Download How to make a Code of Conduct complaint [pdf] 203KB to help you complete the complaint form.

Complaints must relate to conduct covered by the Members' Code of Conduct [pdf] 266KB. If you make a complaint it must explain why you think a member has not followed the Code of Conduct. The Monitoring Officer will assess your complaint. In deciding whether or not a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred or how to deal with a complaint the Monitoring Officer will have regard to the arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct complaints [pdf] 140KB.

An important part of the complaints process is the role of the Independent Person. He or she must be consulted and have their views taken into account before the council makes a finding that a member has failed to comply with the Code or decided on action to be taken in respect of a member. At any other stage of the complaints process, the Independent Person may be consulted by the Monitoring Officer and/or the subject member.

Contact Us

Paper copies of the above forms may be obtained from the council's Monitoring Officer at the above address, or telephone 01233 330210, or email legal.support@ashford.gov.uk for one to be sent to you.