Complain about a councillor

You can tell us if a current councillor has breached our code of conduct.

We cannot consider complaints about events that may have happened:

• before the member was elected, co-opted or appointed
• after they resigned or left their position as a member

The standards committee cannot consider complaints about:

• a disappointment with a decision or action of the authority or one of its committees
• services provided by the authority
• people employed by the authority
• authority procedures

Our code of conduct

Our most recent code of conduct was adopted in July 2024. Some parish councils may have adopted this before or after this date.

If your complaint is about a parish councillor, you can contact the parish clerk for a copy of their adopted code of conduct.

Who you can complain about

You can complain about a councillor or parish councillor in:

• Maidstone
• Barming
• Bearsted
• Boughton Monchelsea
• Boxley
• Bredhurst
• Broomfield and Kingswood
• Chart Sutton
• Collier Street
• Coxheath
• Detling
• Downswood
• East Farleigh
• East Sutton
• Harrietsham
• Headcorn
• Hollingbourne
• Hunton
• Langley
• Leeds
• Lenham
• Linton
• Loose
• Marden
• Nettlestead
• Otham
• Staplehurst
• Stockbury
• Sutton Valence
• Teston
• Thurnham
• Tovil
• Ulcombe
• West Farleigh
• Yalding

Make a complaint

Report your concern by completing our complaint form. Write in as much detail as you can. We need to know exactly what the member said or did to cause concern. You must tell us which part of the code of conduct was breached and how it happened.

Include any documents and information that may support your complaint. They should be cross-referenced in your writing.

Although you are not required to prove your complaint at this stage, you must demonstrate reasonable grounds to prove they have breached the code of conduct.

You can return your form by post:

Or you can email your form to monitoringofficer@maidstone.gov.uk.

You can also email us if you need help writing your complaint or accessing the form.

Complaints are handled under the Localism Act 2011.

Read about our code complaint arrangements.

What happens next

We will write to you to tell you we have received your complaint. The member will be told:

• that we have received a complaint
• who made the complaint
• the paragraphs of the code of conduct that may have been breached

We will aim to do this within 10 working days of receiving your complaint.

The Monitoring Officer and an independent person will decide if it will be referred for investigation or other action.

Investigations

An investigation will only take place if your complaint meets the referral criteria. If we are not going to investigate, we will tell you why.

Other action

Your complaint may be referred for ‘other action’. We will tell you if your complaint will be resolved this way and what happens next.

‘Other action’ may include:

• an apology from the member
• additional member training
• mediation