The council prides itself on achieving the highest standards of conduct from its councillors and officers.  The council has a standards and audit committee, which includes borough and parish councillors, together with three independent members, to ensure that the council operates by the strong ethical principles which the public rightly expects.  The committee has also put in place arrangements to deal with any complaints made by the public about the conduct of our councillors.

All councillors have to sign up to a code of conduct to ensure that they maintain high ethical standards.  Members of the public concerned about the conduct of a borough councillor or parish councillor within the area can complain to an independently chaired sub-committee.  The sub-committee can only deal with complaints about elected councillors and will not deal with things that are not covered by the code of conduct.  

If a complainant reveals that a potential breach of the code has taken place, the allegation may be referred for investigation or other action.  Once cases have been investigated, a second independently chaired sub-committee will decide what action, if any, should be taken against the councillor.

If you wish to submit a complaint about the conduct of a borough or parish councillor, you should write to the council's monitoring officer at the following address:

Monitoring Officer
Guildford Borough Council
Millmead House
Millmead
Guildford
GU2 4BB

Your complaint should:

• include your name, address and other contact details;

• specify your status (whether you are a member of the public or a councillor or officer of the borough or any parish council in the area);

• identify who the complaint is about and the council that he or she is a member of; and

• details of the alleged misconduct and how you consider it has breached the code of conduct, including dates, witness details and other supporting information.

Your identity and a summary of the complaint will normally be disclosed to the councillor you have complained about.  If you have serious concerns about this, you should refer to them in your written complaint.