Councillors and other members must follow a Code of Conduct.

If you believe a Councillor has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct, you can complete our online form to complain about them. 

If you are unable to complete this online form, complete the Councillor complaint form and email it to us.

You can also post the completed form to: 

Committee Services Team
London Borough of Sutton Civic Offices
St Nicholas Way
Sutton SM1 1EA

Check if you can make a complaint

Your complaint must be about a Councillor that you believe has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct. This must be either:

  • one or more named members of the London Borough of Sutton
  • a Councillor for the London Borough of Sutton while they were in office

The Code of Conduct came into effect on 1 July 2012. If your complaint is about something that happened before 1 July 2012, contact us before making your complaint. We can let you know whether it can be dealt with under the previous Code of Conduct.

What to include 

You should complete the complaint form with:

  • details of what each person said or did that caused you to complain
  • documents or other material to support your complaint 

If you include supporting documents, you will also need to provide a covering note. This should summarise your complaint and your supporting documents.

It's very important that you set your complaint out clearly and provide all the information you would like the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person to consider.

You'll need to show that you have reasonable grounds for believing that the member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct.

Your complaint needs to be in writing. If you can't do this, contact committee.services@sutton.gov.uk for help.

Complaints that can’t be considered

We won’t be able to consider your complaint if it is about:

  • an individual before they were elected, co-opted or appointed to the Council 
  • an individual after they have resigned or otherwise ceased to be a member
  • dissatisfaction with a decision or action of the Council
  • dissatisfaction with a Council committee or service
  • dissatisfaction with a Councils procedure
  • you are complaining about the actions of Council employees

You can find out how to make complaints about other Council services on our complaints page.

After you've complained

We will let you know when we've received your complaint. The Councillor who you are complaining about will also be informed.

The Council's Monitoring Officer will then consult the Independent Person regarding your complaint. They will decide whether it should be referred for investigation or other action.

Not every complaint will be referred for investigation or other action. We will check whether:

  • the complaint, if proven, would be a failure to comply with the Code under which the member was operating at the time of the alleged misconduct
  • the complainant has submitted enough information to satisfy the Monitoring Officer that the complaint should be referred for investigation or other action
  • the complaint is about someone who is no longer a member of the Authority but is a member of another authority
  • the complaint has not already been the subject of an investigation or other action relating to the Code of Conduct, or an investigation by other regulatory authorities
  • the complaint is about something that happened so long ago that there would be little benefit in taking action now
  • the complaint is too trivial to warrant further action
  • the complaint appears to be malicious, politically motivated or vexatious

We'll write to you to let you know whether your complaint has been referred for investigation or other action, and why.

At the same time we write to you, we'll also write to the member(s) you have complained about.

We'll send these letters within five working days of the Monitoring Officer reaching their decision.

Other action

The Monitoring Officer may seek to resolve the complaint without a formal investigation.

Other action could include options such as requiring the member to apologise, undergo training, or mediation.

The Monitoring Officer will consider the circumstances around your complaint when deciding whether other action is appropriate.

Contacting us

You can contact Committee Services by emailing committee.services@sutton.gov.uk or call us on 020 8770 4990.