Complaints about Councillors

The Corporate Complaints process is not able to address a complaint regarding the conduct of a Councillor.

All councillors at Torfaen are subject to a Code of Conduct (which can be accessed in Appendix 1 of the Council's Constitution). 

Concerns about a councillor’s behaviour may be raised with the Council’s Monitoring Officer in the first instance. Formal complaints that a councillor may have breached this Code should be addressed to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The Ombudsman’s web site contains explanations on the standards of behaviour expected by the Code and the basis on which the Ombudsman decides whether or not to investigate a complaint.

The Ombudsman will normally only investigate when there is evidence that a serious breach may have been committed. The Ombudsman has pointed out in the past that because of the right of freedom of speech (even if what is said or written is considered shocking or offensive by some or even many people), comments have a high level of protection under both the common law and Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, and this is particularly relevant if comments are general and are not targeted at any particular person.

If you feel that the Code may have been breached then you are able to complain to the Ombudsman online. Legislation sets out that only when the Ombudsman has decided to formally investigate and report to the Council can the matter come before the Council’s Ethics and Standards Committee.