Complaints Against Members

The responsibility for considering complaints that a member of a local authority has breached the Code of Conduct is dealt with by the Standards Committee for each local authority area.

If you want to complain about the conduct of a member of Darlington Borough Council or a member of one of our parish councils, you should submit your complaint to:

The Independent Chair of the Standards Committee

C/o  Catherine Whitehead, Borough Solicitor and Monitoring Officer

The Standards Committee

Darlington Borough Council

Town Hall

Darlington

DL1 5QT

Your complaint will need to be in writing and it will be helpful if you can submit your complaint on the complaints form.

The Standards Committee can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a Borough Councillor or a Parish Councillor. It will not deal with complaints about things that are not covered by the members’ Code of Conduct. If you make a complaint to the Standards Committee it must be about why you think a member has not followed the Code of Conduct.

Copies of relevant documents to help you in setting out your complaint and explaining the process that will be followed are set out on the links below :

• Complaints form
• Members' Code of Conduct
• General Principles of conduct
• Register of Members Interests
• Standards Committee
• Monitoring Officer
• How your complaint will be dealt with
• Parish Councils and Parish Meetings
• About the Standards Board for England

If you require any additional information contact Catherine Whitehead on 01325 388306 who will be happy to help you further.