Introduction
The Monitoring Officer has a specific legal role within the Council. They advise on the Council’s constitution, councillor conduct and ethical standards, member interests, and whether the Council acts lawfully. They also manage complaints that a Somerset councillor, including city, town and parish councillors, may have breached their code of conduct.
The Monitoring Officer can look at concerns about:
- a possible breach of the Councillor Code of Conduct
- how a councillor has behaved when acting in their official role
- councillor interests, declarations, bias, predetermination, or misuse of position
- the Council’s governance, including its Constitution and decision making processes
- serious issues of probity, ethics or maladministration that fall within the Monitoring Officer’s role
The Monitoring Officer cannot deal with service complaints:
Service complaints should be raised through the Council’s complaints process. These include concerns about:
- the quality or standard of a service
- delays, lack of response, or poor communication
- disagreement with an operational decision or outcome
- the behaviour or actions of Council staff
- how a request for service has been handled
- matters that have their own appeal or review process, for example planning decisions, school admissions, EHCP, parking penalties or housing allocations
Please do not send service complaints to the Monitoring Officer. This will delay your complaint, as it will need to be passed to the relevant service.
Complaints about councillors:
If your concern is about a councillor, please use the councillor complaint form and include:
- the name of the councillor
- what they said or did
- when and where this happened
- why you believe this may breach the Code of Conduct
- whether they were acting in an official capacity
- any evidence you have
If you are unsure:
If you are unsure, please use the Council’s complaints process. This will ensure your concern is considered by the correct service without delay. The Monitoring Officer will only become involved where a matter falls within their legal role, and enquiries outside that role will be redirected.
Complaints, comments and compliments