Standards Committee

Complaints about individual members of the Borough Council or Town and Parish Councillors that there has been a breach of the code of conduct for councillors.

Complaints that the conduct of a member of the Borough Council or a member of a Town or Parish Council is in breach of the Code of Conduct for the Council in question should be made to the Council's Standards Committee who will decide whether a possible breach of the code of conduct is involved and what action to take.

Complaints must be made in writing and submitted to:

The Monitoring Officer
Solihull MBC Standards Committee
Council House
Solihull
B91 9QS

A form can be downloaded for you to complete or alternatively you can express your complaint in a letter which covers the points on the form. You should send copies of any documents which support your complaint.

If you cannot write your complaint in English, the Council can arrange for it to be translated for you.

If you have any questions or difficulties in completing the form please contact the Monitoring Officer on 0121 704 6721 or by email to solicitor@solihull.gov.uk

Who you can complain about?

The Standards Committee can only consider complaints about individual councillors or members. This includes Borough as well as Town and Parish Councillors.

The Standards Committee cannot consider complaints about the Council as a whole or about decisions made. In these cases you should take the matter up with your local ward councillor or town or parish councillor.

What can you complain about?

You can complain that a member has breached any part of their authority's code pf conduct. This can include:-

• unlawfully discriminating against someone
• failing to treat people with respect
• bullying any person
• intimidating any person involved in any investigation or proceedings about someone's misconduct
• doing something to prevent those who work for the authority from being unbiased
• revealing information that was given to them in confidence, or stopping someone getting information they are entitled to by law
• damaging the reputation of their office or authority, where the conduct is linked to their public role and not in their private capacity
• using their position improperly, to their own or someone else's advantage or disadvantage
• misusing their authority's resources
• allowing their authority's resources to be misused for the activities of a registered political party
• failing to register financial or other interests
• failing to reveal a personal interest at a meeting
• taking part in the discussion or making a decision where they have an interest that is so significant that it is likely to affect their judgment (known as a 'prejudicial interest')
• improperly influencing a decision about a matter that they have a prejudicial interest in
• failing to register any gifts or hospitality (including its source), that they have received in their role as a member worth over £25

You can see the full text of the codes of conduct of the Borough and Town and Parish Councils.

Complaints which cannot be considered by the Standards Committee

• Complaints where a member is not named
• Complaints that are not in writing
• Incidents or actions which are not covered by the Code of Conduct
• Incidents that are about a fault in the way an authority has acted. For these complaints see the complaints page
• Complaints about the way in which a Town or Parish Council has acted could be taken up directly with that council (see contact details for town and parish councils)
• Complaints about Council employees (For complaints about employees see the complaints page
• Complaints about incidents which occurred before a member was elected

Before you complain

Note that the Standards Committee is unlikely to be able to keep your identity confidential from the person you are complaining about. Details of your complaint will normally be passed to the member you have complained about. If you think there are good reasons why the member should not be informed you should contact the Monitoring Officer.

What happens when you complain

Your complaint will be acknowledged and it will be placed before a small panel of members of the Standards Committee for initial assessment. This meeting will be held in private and none of the parties to the complaint will be able to attend. The panel will decide what action should be taken about the complaint.

You will be advised of the outcome of the panel meeting. If any action is to be taken you will be informed of the details.

What can I do if I am not satisfied with the decision on initial local assessment?

You can ask for the decision to be reviewed by a separate Standards Committee panel whose members have not take part in the decision. To request a review you should contact the Monitoring Officer.