Making a complaint

All members are required to observe the Members’ Code of Conduct.

In May 2008 the duty for considering complaints that a member may have breached the Code of Conduct became the responsibility of the standards committees of local authorities.

If you want to complain about the conduct of a member of the Authority, send your complaint in writing to:

The Monitoring Officer
LFEPA
169 Union Street,
London SE1 0LL

Or email: david.atkinson@london-fire.gov.uk

The Authority has established a procedure for handling complaints under the Code of Conduct. The Monitoring Officer will make sure that your complaint is considered by a Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee called the Assessment Sub-Committee. If the Assessment Sub-Committee thinks your complaint needs investigating, they will ask the Monitoring Officer to arrange an investigation.

Please note that the Sub-Committee can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a member, and things that are covered by the Code of Conduct. If you make a complaint to the Assessment Sub-Committee it must be about why you think a member has not followed the Code of Conduct.

Complaint details

Your complaint should include:

• Your name, address and other contact details.
• In what capacity you are complaining, for example, as a member of the public, fellow member or Authority officer.
• The name of the member about whom you are complaining.
• The names of any other authorities to which the member belongs (if known).
• Details of the alleged misconduct including, where possible, dates, witness details and other supporting information. Please be as specific as you can.

You should note that your identity will normally be disclosed to the member about whom you are complaining. If there are exceptional circumstances why you think your identity should not be disclosed, you must tell us and we will consider your request appropriately.

It is possible to complain anonymously, but the Assessment Sub-Committee will not be able to consider anonymous complaints unless there is enough information to enable a meaningful investigation.

Help and information 

If you would like further information about the Authority’s process for handling complaints about members, please contact Legal and Democratic services: democratic.services@london-fire.gov.uk.

If you have any difficulty in making your complaint in writing, for example, because you have a disability or because English is not your first language, please contact Legal and Democratic services: democratic.services@london-fire.gov.uk

We will do our best to help you.

The Standards Board for England is responsible for overseeing how local authorities administer their codes of conduct and any complaints about their members. Visit the Standards Board’s website for further information.

Related documents

Complaints Procedure ( PDF, 97.7KB)