Complaints about the council

Complaints about adult social care (opens new window)  

You can contact your worker or the team you are working with, or if you prefer you can contact the customer complaints team.

We have put together a list of organisations that might be able to help you by providing further advice and support, depending on the nature of your complaint.

You may be able to deal with your complaint by talking to one of your child's teachers, doing this early on can help prevent misunderstandings and any concerns getting worse.

If you are unable to do this you should ask to see the school's own complaints procedure which will explain how to make your complaint, this may involve going to the headteacher or governing body.

You can also find guidance about making a complaint about a school on the Department for Education website (opens new window).

If you are not satisfied with the responses you have received from the school you may be able to get help from Ofsted, you can find details of how to do this on the Ofsted website (opens new window).

If you are unhappy about your child's school placement you can appeal the decision, more information about how to appeal can be found on School admissions.

All Councillors have to comply with a code of conduct for members. Each authority may define their own code of conduct, but all codes must have due regard to the following principles:

• selflessness
• integrity
• objectivity
• accountability
• openness
• honesty
• leadership

Wiltshire Council members have adopted the following code of conduct. City, town and parish councils in Wiltshire may have adopted different codes, so if you are concerned about the conduct of a city, town or parish councillor you should contact the relevant council and ask to be provided with a copy of the code of conduct they have adopted. You may also be able to obtain a copy of the code of conduct from the relevant town or parish council's website (opens new window).

If, having read the relevant code of conduct, you consider that a councillor may have been in breach of their code and you wish to complain, please complete the  Members complaint form (Word doc) [151KB] (opens new window)   and either:

• email it to MonitoringOfficer@Wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window)
• print off and post to:

The Monitoring Officer
Wiltshire Council
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN

We are aware that iPad users can have difficulty opening the Word version, if you cannot open it, please print the PDF version (PDF) [303KB] (opens new window) .

If you can not access the PDF or Word forms please email governance@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window), write to us (address above) or call us (01225 718400), to discuss provision of accessible documents.

Please make it clear which council your complaint relates to, and state clearly in your complaint why you think the councillor may have breached their council's local code of conduct, with reference to the relevant provisions in that code.

When we receive your complaint the monitoring officer will determine whether it meets the initial criteria to proceed to a formal assessment. This decision will be taken having regard to the guidelines set out in Wiltshire Council's Standards Assessment Criteria, which can be found in our guidance documents (opens new window).

We can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a councillor when they are acting in their official capacity. We cannot deal with complaints about behaviour that is not covered by the members' Code of Conduct for the relevant council. We will usually only be able to consider complaints made within 20 working days of the event giving rise to the complaint.

If the complaint meets the initial criteria, the Monitoring Officer will give the councillor concerned an opportunity to respond to the issues you have raised and, in light of any comments received from the councillor, they will consider whether to refer it for formal assessment. Complaints will not normally proceed to a formal assessment if they are considered to be trivial or vexatious. The formal assessment will be carried out by the Assessment Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee. You will be informed whether your complaint is going to be referred to a meeting of the Assessment Sub-Committee and of your right to attend that meeting, should you so wish. 

The members complaint form and Wiltshire council's local assessment criteria PDF can be found in the downloads section of this page. Further information on the arrangements for dealing with code of conduct complaints can be found in Protocol 11 (opens new window).

The council has produced a toolkit to help support local councillors and clerks promote positive conduct and democracy. The toolkit and more information can be found on our dedicated page Positive Conduct equals Positive Democracy .

If you want to complain about the conduct of the Wiltshire PCC and/or DPCC, please complete the PCC complaints form (Word doc) [98KB] (opens new window) and either:

• email it to governance@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window)
• print off and post to:

The Monitoring Officer
Wiltshire Council
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN

Or you can send a letter to the Monitoring Officer using the above addresses.

When we receive your complaint the Monitoring Officer or Deputy Monitoring Officer will decide whether we can deal with it. If your complaint is about the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner and/or Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner we will follow the PCC and DPCC complaints process (PDF) [23KB] (opens new window) .

To find out how your complaint is dealt with from the beginning to the end of the process please read about arrangements for dealing with complaints about the PCC and DPCC (PDF) [96KB] (opens new window) .

If you can not access the PDF or Word documents please email governance@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window), write to us (address above) or call us (01225 718400), to discuss provision of accessible documents.

What is not covered by the complaints process

• Operational policing matters or the conduct of individual police personnel. These complaints should be directed to the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police.
• Policing policy matters or complaints relating to the conduct of the Chief Constable. These complaints should be directed to the Police and Crime Commissioner.
• Potential criminal conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner, both where a formal complaint has been made or where the circumstances point to potential criminal behaviour. Such complaints will be referred by the Monitoring Officer to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for determination.

If you would like any further information about the complaints process please call the Governance team on 01225 718400.

Wiltshire Council's Complaints procedure (opens new window) sets out how complaints that are not covered by the procedures above will be dealt with. For additional please see making a complaint or you can contact the customer complaints team.