The Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct is one of the new arrangements made by the Council for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct for its members. These new measures have been brought about by the Localism Act 2011 (The Act) and are significantly different from the previous ethical standards' regime. An important change is that both the Code of Conduct and these arrangements generally will now differ from authority to authority.

The Code of Conduct is a set of standards that all Councillors and any co-opted person who sits on Council committees must agree to follow.

The Code of Conduct covers areas of individual behaviour like not abusing positions or misusing authority resources. There are also rules outlining disclosure of interest and withdrawal from meetings where they have an interest. Members are also required to record their financial and other interests on the public register.

For the Member's Code of Conduct please see "Part 5 - Codes and Protocols" of the Constitution.

Complaints process

In order to ensure that we have all the information we need to be able to process your complaint, please complete a Code of Conduct Complaint form which will be sent to the Borough Solicitor, Simon Pugh.

The Borough Solicitor is a senior officer of the authority who has statutory responsibility for maintaining the register of members’ interests and administering the system in respect of complaints of member misconduct.