Making a complaint about a councillor

The Council has adopted a code of conduct for members, which is available for inspection at section 6a of the Council’s Constitution and on request from committee@devon.gov.uk.

The people involved

Complainant

The person or people making the complaint.

Subject member

The councillor against whom an allegation has been made.

Monitoring officer

The monitoring officer is a senior (statutory) officer of the Council who has statutory responsibility for maintaining the register of councillors’ interests and who is responsible for administering the system in respect of complaints of councillor misconduct.

Independent person

The Council must appoint at least one independent person and seek that person’s views before it takes a decision on a complaint that it has decided to investigate.

The independent person’s views can also be sought by the Council on any other issue in the complaints handling process. The independent person will also provide, on request, procedural advice to a subject member.

Investigator

The person appointed by the monitoring officer to undertake a formal investigation. They could be another officer of the Council, an officer of another council or an external investigator.

Other terms

Standards Committee

The Standards Committee is appointed each year by the Council. Details of the current membership of the Committee can be found here.

The independent persons are invited to attend all meetings of the Standards Committee and their views are sought and taken into consideration before the Standards Committee takes any decision on consideration of an investigation report on whether the subject member’s conduct constitutes a failure to comply with the member code of conduct and as to any action to be taken following a finding of failure to comply with it.

Local hearing

A meeting of the Standards Committee at which they consider whether the subject member has breached the code of conduct.

Public interest

Public interest considerations are part of the assessment of the complaint.

In order to ensure that all the information needed to be able to process a complaint is included, complaints should be submitted using the complaint form for allegation of breach(es) of code of conduct for members.

The form is also available on request from members.services@devon.gov.uk.

If you are unable to use the form, you can submit a complaint by emailing Maria Price (Monitoring Officer and Director of Legal And Democratic Services) at monitoring.officer@devon.gov.uk  or by writing to Maria Price at Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD.

If you are submitting a complaint in writing, please provide your name and a contact address or email address, so your complaint can be acknowledged and you can be kept informed of its progress.

The subject member will, in normal circumstances, be told from the outset who has complained about them.

The monitoring officer

The monitoring officer is a statutory and senior officer of the Authority who has a legal responsibility for maintaining the register of members’ interests and who is responsible for administering the system in respect of complaints of member misconduct.

The monitoring officer will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it and will keep you informed of the progress of your complaint.

In the event of there being a conflict of interest in relation to both the monitoring officer and deputy monitoring officer, the monitoring officer will, in consultation with the Chief Executive, seek to appoint another deputy monitoring officer, or alternatively, refer the matter to a monitoring officer from another authority.

Confidentiality

If you want to keep your name and address or email confidential, you should indicate this in the space provided on the complaint form. This request will be considered by the monitoring officer prior to the member being notified that a complaint has been made.

Each request for confidentiality will be considered on its merits and in determining such a request the following will be considered:

• Whether the complainant reasonably believes that they, or those connected to them, will be at risk of harm if their identity is disclosed.
• Whether the complainant is alleging harassment, bullying, or victimisation.
• That the complainant is reasonably concerned about the consequences to their employment, or those connected to them if their identity is disclosed.
• That the complainant, or somebody closely connected to them, suffers from a medical condition and there is evidence of medical risks associated with their identity being disclosed or confirmation from an appropriate medical professional that that is the case.

If it is not considered appropriate to grant a request for confidentiality, you will be offered the opportunity to withdraw the complaint rather than proceed with it. Complainants must recognise that maintaining confidentiality may hinder the effectiveness of any investigation.

The Authority does not normally investigate anonymous complaints, unless there is a clear public interest in doing so. These are complaints where the complainant cannot be identified such as the submission of a unsigned letter or an email with no name or address.

Any member of staff (including school staff) within Devon County Council can report information to the monitoring officer and or make a complaint against an elected member (or both).

In line with the details provided in How to make a complaint, they can request their details be kept confidential, and this is a matter for the monitoring officer.

Preliminary tests

The monitoring officer will review every complaint received and take a decision as to whether it merits formal investigation. This decision will normally be taken within 10 working days of receipt of your complaint.

The complaint will be assessed by the monitoring officer, or in their absence the deputy monitoring officer, in consultation with the independent person, against the stage one legal threshold and, if applicable, the stage two initial assessment test.

Stage one – legal threshold

• Was the person complained of a member of the Council at the time of the alleged conduct?
• Was the person complained of acting in the capacity of a county councillor at the time of the alleged conduct?
• If the facts could be established as a matter of evidence, could the alleged conduct be capable of a breach of the code of conduct in force at the material time?

Complaints about councillors when they are acting in a private capacity cannot proceed and the monitoring officer will not progress complaints relating to dissatisfaction with the Council’s decisions, policies and priorities.

If the complaint fails one or more of the stage one legal threshold tests, no further action will be taken by the monitoring officer and the complaint will be rejected.

The complainant will be notified accordingly with reasons, normally within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint by the monitoring officer. There is no right of appeal against the monitoring officer’s decision.

Stage two – initial assessment

If the complaint satisfies the stage one legal threshold test, the monitoring officer will then apply the following initial assessment criteria test:

• The complaint is a ‘repeat complaint’, unless supported by new or further evidence substantiating or indicating that the complaint is exceptionally serious or significant.
• No or insufficient information or evidence to substantiate the complaint has been submitted by the complainant.
• The complaint is malicious, trivial, politically motivated or ‘tit-for-tat’ and the complaint doesn’t disclose sufficiently serious potential breaches of the code.
• The complainant is unreasonably persistent, malicious or vexatious.
• The alleged misconduct happened more than six months ago.
• The complaint is relatively minor and dealing with the complaint would have a disproportionate effect on both public money and officers’ and members’ time and it is more appropriate for the matter to be discussed with the group leader or chief whip (or both) in accordance with paragraph 16.
• The circumstances have changed so much that there would be little benefit arising from an investigation or other action.
• The complaint has been the subject of an investigation or other action and there is nothing more to be gained by further action being taken.
• The complaint is such that it is unlikely that an investigation will be able to come to a firm conclusion on the matter, for example, where there is no firm evidence on the matter.
• The complaint is about a deceased person.
• The complaint is about a person who is no longer a councillor.

If one or more of the stage two initial assessment test applies to the complaint, no further action will be taken by the monitoring officer and the complaint will be rejected.

The complainant will be notified accordingly with reasons, normally within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint by the monitoring officer. There is no right of appeal against the monitoring officer’s decision.

If the complaint identifies alleged criminal conduct or breach of other regulations by any person, the monitoring officer may also refer the matter to the police and other regulatory agencies. The monitoring officer has the ability to raise any such matter with the whips. 

If none of the criteria in the stage two initial assessment apply, the monitoring officer will go on to apply the public interest test.

Stage three – public interest test

Public interest is regarded as ‘something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public’. It has also been held that the public interest does not mean what is of interest to the public, but what is in the interest of the public.

The Council is of the view that it should not use its resources to investigate matters which are trivial or which have little or no impact upon the public.

It is important that the Council focuses on investigations where matters are serious and capable of undermining the relationship between councillors and the public they serve such as; corruption, bullying, damaging the Council’s public image, bringing the Council into disrepute, or the misuse of power in public office.

When applying the public interest test, the monitoring officer and independent person shall consider each of the following public interest factors set out below. These factors are not exhaustive, and not all may be relevant in every case.

The weight to be attached to each of these factors, and the factors identified, will also vary according to the facts and merits of each case:

• The seriousness of the breach, for example, has the subject member brought the Council seriously into disrepute? The more serious the breach the more likely investigation and referral for further hearing is required. Robust challenge is, however, part of a members role and a balanced approach therefore needs to be taken.
• Has the subject member deliberately sought personal gain for themself or another person? If there is evidence of this, it is likely that the complaint will be investigated and referred for further hearing.
• Are the circumstances of the alleged breach such that a subject member has misused a position of trust or authority and caused harm to a person? If there is evidence of this it is likely that the complaint will be investigated and referred for further hearing.
• Was the breach motivated by any form of discrimination against the victim’s ethnic or national origin, gender, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity? If a subject member’s conduct is believed to be motivated by any form of discrimination it is likely that the complaint will be investigated and referred for further hearing.
• Is there evidence of previous similar behaviour on the part of the member? If so and the matter complained about is serious enough it is likely that the complaint will be investigated and referred for further hearing;
• Is the alleged breach such that an investigation or referral to the Standards Committee is required to maintain public confidence in elected members? If so it is likely that the complaint will be investigated and referred for further hearing
• Is investigation or referral to the Standards Committee a proportionate response? Namely, would the cost of an investigation or hearing by the Standards Committee be regarded as excessive when weighed against any likely sanction?

When the monitoring officer has taken a decision, they will inform the complainant of their decision and the reasons for that decision. The monitoring officer must consult with the independent person before deciding whether or not a formal investigation should be undertaken.

Where the monitoring officer requires additional information in order to come to a decision, they may request further information from the complainant, and may request information from the subject member against whom the complaint is directed.

The subject member, may speak to the independent person at any stage in the process. This could be to provide a view on the complaint itself, the process under which the complaint will be dealt with or to provide a view on any other query the subject member may have relating to the complaint.

An independent person’s role is not to act as an ‘advisor’ to the subject member. The independent person cannot tell a subject member what to do, but is able to give their views on the facts of the case, on the alleged breach and the process.

Local resolution

In appropriate cases, the monitoring officer may seek to resolve the complaint informally, without the need for a formal investigation. Such informal resolution may involve the subject member accepting that their conduct fell short of the usual standards expected and they offer an apology, or other remedial action.

Where the subject member or the authority make a reasonable offer of local resolution, but the complainant does not agree with that offer, the monitoring officer will take account of those views, in consultation with the subject member, in deciding whether the complaint merits formal investigation.

The monitoring officer will complete a decision notice, whether or not a matter is to be investigated, which will outline the reasons for the decision.

The monitoring officer will normally only decide to investigate a complaint about alleged conduct that happened within six months of the date of receipt of the complaint.

If the monitoring officer decides that a complaint merits formal investigation, they will appoint an investigating officer or officers, who may be another senior officer of the Authority, an officer of another authority or an external investigator.

However, investigators external to the Authority will only be used in a very limited number of circumstances. Occasions such as these will be when an investigation requires someone who is completely independent of either Devon County Council or any local authority.

The monitoring officer will need to make a judgement balancing the resources of the Council and the scale and nature of the complaint.

The investigating officer will decide whether they need to meet or speak to the complainant to understand the nature of the complaint and so the complainant can explain their understanding of events and suggest what documents the investigating officer needs to see, and who the investigating officer needs to interview.

The investigation will be completed in accordance with the protocol for dealing with investigations into standards allegations under the Localism Act 2011.

The investigating officer would normally write to the subject member against whom the complaint has been made and provide them with details of the complaint, within five working days of being appointed.

The subject member has the opportunity to provide an explanation of events, identify any documents they believe the investigating officer needs to see and who should be interviewed. This should be done within 10 working days of receiving the details of the complaint from the investigating officer.

In exceptional cases, where it is appropriate to keep the complainant’s identity confidential or disclosure of details of the complaint to the subject member might prejudice the investigation, the monitoring officer can delete the complainant’s name and address from the papers given to the subject member.

The investigating officer may ask the subject member to attend an interview about the complaint. The subject member may be accompanied if they chose to bring someone to support them.

The interview may be audio recorded or recorded on Teams if the meeting takes place remotely. Agreement on recording such meetings, by either party, will be sought in advance.

The disclosure of any evidence to anyone involved in the investigation at any stage is a matter for the investigating officer. However, the investigating officer must have regard to the rules of natural justice and ensuring fairness to all parties concerned.

Any concern about the disclosure of evidence, particularly to the subject member, must be discussed with the monitoring officer, and the subject member informed.

If at any point during the investigation, the investigating officer forms the opinion that the investigation should cease, they will consult with the monitoring officer, who may consult the independent person and take a decision to stop the investigation at any stage.

The investigating officer will endeavour to complete their investigation within eight weeks (40 working days). However, they may, if they consider it to be in the interests of natural justice and fairness, extend the timetable based upon factors such as:

• medical reasons relating to the subject member – the investigating officer may wish to see evidence which specifically addresses why the subject member cannot engage in the investigation (the investigating officer will also maintain the confidentiality of personal health matters)
• to allow the subject member to seek legal advice and representation
• in consideration of any personal or family circumstances of the subject member that impacts on their availability or ability to engage at the initial stage
• in other exceptional circumstances determined on a case-by-case basis, for example, the availability of a key or material witness

Any extension will be determined by the investigating officer who will confirm the new timetable and notify the relevant parties.

The investigating officer reserves the right to proceed with the investigation in the absence of engagement of the subject member if they are satisfied that reasonable opportunity has been given to the subject member to engage in the process.

At the end of their investigation, the investigating officer will produce a draft report and will send a copy of that draft report, in confidence, to the monitoring officer. The monitoring officer, if satisfied with the report, will then send the draft report to the complainant and the subject member normally within five working days.

The background evidence gathered during the course of the investigation should be listed as background papers or evidence within the report. These do not usually form part of the report in their raw form, unless the contents are deemed essential to understanding the investigation and outcome. These are not usually disclosed to the complainant or the subject member at this stage, but a request can be made to view them, subject to any confidentiality issues being observed.

The complainant and the subject member will be given a period of 10 working days to comment on the draft report. All comments should be directed to the investigating officer for consideration.

The investigating officer, having received and taken account of any comments made on the draft report and undertaking any further investigation they consider relevant and appropriate. The investigating officer will send their final report to the monitoring officer, within 10 working days.

If the investigating officer concludes that there is no evidence of a failure to comply with the member code of conduct

The monitoring officer will review the investigating officer’s report and, if they are satisfied that it is sufficient, they will write to the complainant and to the subject member, notifying them that they are satisfied that no further action is required, and provide both with a copy of the final report.

If the monitoring officer has concerns about the conduct of an investigation or the investigation report, they may ask the investigating officer to reconsider their report. The monitoring officer may consult the independent person about this and the subject member should be informed.

If the investigating officer concludes that there is evidence of a failure to comply with the member code of conduct

The monitoring officer will review the investigating officer’s report and will then either send the matter for local hearing before the Standards Committee or, after consulting the independent person, seek local resolution.

Local resolution

The monitoring officer may consider that the matter can reasonably be resolved without the need for a hearing. In such a case, they will consult with the independent person and with the complainant.

If the complainant does not agree with the suggested resolution, the monitoring officer will take account of their views in deciding whether to proceed with the local resolution or refer it for a local hearing. It is, however, the monitoring officer’s decision.

The purpose of the local resolution is to ensure higher standards of conduct for the future. Such resolution may include the subject member accepting that their conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology or other remedial action by the Authority (or both).

The range of resolutions that can be imposed is wide and each resolution will be tailored to fit the particular behaviour that has resulted in a breach of the member code of conduct, for example, training on a specific issue. The monitoring officer will set a reasonable timescale for compliance with the local resolution.

If the subject member complies with the suggested resolution, within the timescale set by the monitoring officer, the monitoring officer will report the matter to the Standards Committee for information, but will take no further action.

If the subject member fails to comply with the resolution within the timescale set, the matter will be referred to the Standards Committee.

The breach of the member code of conduct and the resolution imposed will be publicised on the subject member’s profile on the Council’s website for a period to be determined by the monitoring officer, which is to be no less than the time required for compliance with any sanction.

If a subject member fails to comply with a sanction in the timescale set, the information will remain on the profile until compliance is achieved.

Local hearing

If the monitoring officer considers that local resolution is not appropriate, or the subject member concerned is not prepared to undertake the suggested resolution, then the monitoring officer will report the investigating officer’s report to the Standards Committee.

The Committee will conduct a local hearing before deciding whether the subject member has failed to comply with the code of conduct and, if so, whether to take any action in respect of the subject member.

The local hearing will normally take place within 30 working days of the decision to proceed to a local hearing being made.

Within five working days of the decision being made to proceed with a local hearing, the monitoring officer shall provide the complainant and the subject member with a copy of the bundle containing the supporting evidence.

The monitoring officer will conduct a ‘pre-hearing process’, requiring the subject member to give their response to the investigating officer’s report, in order to identify what is likely to be agreed and what is likely to be in contention at the hearing. The chair of the Standards Committee may issue directions as to the manner in which the hearing will be conducted.

At the hearing, the investigating officer will present their report, call such witnesses as they consider necessary and make representations to substantiate their conclusion that the subject member has failed to comply with the member code of conduct.

For this purpose, the investigating officer may ask the complainant to attend and give evidence to the Committee. The subject member will then have an opportunity to give their evidence, to call witnesses and to make representations to the Committee as to why they consider that they did not fail to comply with the member code of conduct.

There is no cross examination, but points of clarification can be raised if required. Both the complainant and subject member will be asked to sum up at the end of the hearing.

If the Committee, with the benefit of any advice from the independent person, conclude that the subject member did not fail to comply with the member code of conduct, they may dismiss the complaint.

If the Committee concludes that the subject member did fail to comply with the code of conduct, the chair will inform the subject member of this finding and the Committee will then consider what action, if any, it should take as a result.

In doing this, the Committee will give the subject member an opportunity to make representations to the Committee, and in line with above, with the benefit of any advice from the independent person.

The Council has delegated to the Standards Committee such of its powers to take action in respect of individual members as may be necessary to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.

Accordingly, the Standards Committee will publish the breach of the code of conduct and the sanction imposed on the subject member’s profile on the Council’s website for a period of time to be determined by the Committee, which is to be no less than the time required for compliance with any sanction.

If a subject member fails to comply with a sanction in the timescale set, the information will remain on the profile until compliance is achieved. The Committee will also report its findings to Council for information.

The Standards Committee may:

• recommend to the member’s group leader (or in the case of ungrouped members, recommend to Council or to committees) that the subject member be removed from any or all committees or sub-committees of the Council
• recommend to the Leader of the Council that the subject member be removed from the Cabinet, or removed from particular portfolio responsibilities
• instruct the monitoring officer to arrange training for the subject member
• recommend to Council to remove the subject member from all outside appointments to which they have been appointed or nominated by the authority
• consider withdrawing facilities provided to the subject member by the Council, such as a computer, website and/or email and internet access, but only if the breach of the code warrants such a sanction – there would be a requirement to ensure constituents were represented and solutions needed to ensure this continued
• exclude the subject member from the Council’s offices or other premises, with the exception of meeting rooms as necessary for attending Council, committee and sub-committee meetings
• recommend to the Council that the subject member be issued with a formal censure (such as the issue of an unfavourable opinion or judgement or reprimand) by motion
• instruct the monitoring officer to apply the informal resolution process
• recommend the Council to issue a press release or other form of publicity
• recommend that the subject member makes an apology at the next full Council meeting
• take such steps as appropriate, reasonable and proportionate to the particular conduct that amounted to the breach of the code of conduct

The Standards Committee has no power to suspend or disqualify the subject member or to withdraw members’ or special responsibility allowances.

What happens at the end of the hearing

At the end of the hearing, the chair will state the decision of the Committee as to whether the subject member failed to comply with the member code of conduct and as to any actions which the Committee resolves to take.

As soon as reasonably practicable thereafter, and normally within five working days, the monitoring officer shall prepare a formal decision notice in consultation with the chair of the Committee. They will also send a copy to the complainant and to the subject member and will make that decision notice available for public inspection and report the decision to the next convenient meeting of the Council.

If the subject member complies with the sanction imposed by the Standards Committee, within the timescale set, the monitoring officer will report the matter to the Standards Committee for information.

If the subject member fails to comply with the sanction within the timescale set, the matter will be referred to the Standards Committee and Full Council for information.

The Council acknowledges that there is a need to balance the public interest in transparency of these types of matters with the requirement of fairness to a member who is subject to an allegation.

The contents of the initial assessment of a complaint and the investigation will remain confidential.

When a matter progresses to a local hearing before the Committee of the Standards Committee, in ‘Part II or closed’ session and information relating thereto will be considered exempt under the provisions of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, subject to the application of the public interest test, as appropriate.

Data protection requirements will be complied with and may prevent the public disclosure of information relating to complaints. Consideration will also be given to the disclosure of the papers prior to and or after the hearing and whether any redactions of the papers need to be made.

During an investigation and any subsequent hearing, it is important to ensure that information and evidence that has been gathered, is kept confidential in order to protect the integrity of the process. With that in mind, the access to certain information will be restricted.

Subject access requests

The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR entitles individuals (both members of the public and employees) to access personal data held about them by Devon County Council. These requests are referred to as subject access requests.

There are certain circumstances where the Council can legitimately withhold personal information, if one of the exemptions within the Data Protection Act applies.

Information which has been obtained during an investigation under these arrangements is likely to be exempt under the Act as it is likely that disclosure would prejudice the prevention and detection of crime or prejudice certain regulatory functions (or both).

Therefore, if a subject access request is made during an investigation, relating to information relevant to the investigation, it is unlikely that it will be granted.

The final decision will be made by the monitoring officer in consultation with the Council’s Information Governance Team and if necessary, the Data Protection Officer.

Freedom of information requests

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 places a statutory requirement on Devon County Council to provide information to the public.

Any individual has a right to request information held by the Council, regardless of where they reside. This right also extends to employees, pressure groups, businesses, politicians and members of the press.

There are certain circumstances where information is exempt from disclosure. Information which has been obtained during an investigation under these arrangements is likely to be exempt as it is likely that the information is being held for the purposes of a criminal investigation; is or has been held for criminal proceedings conducted by a public authority; or was obtained or recorded for various investigative functions and relates to the obtaining of information from confidential sources.

The information described is exempt only where the public authority has a duty, or the power, to carry out investigations. The Council does have a duty and/or power to carry out an investigation in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, therefore, if a freedom of information request is made during an investigation, relating to information relevant to the investigation, it is unlikely that it will be granted.

The final decision will be made by the monitoring Officer in consultation with the Access to Information Team of the Council.

There is no right of appeal against a decision of the Standards Committee.

If the complainant or subject member feels that the Authority has failed to deal with the complaint properly, they may seek independent legal advice.

The Council may, by resolution, agree to amend these arrangements and delegate to the chair of the Standards Committee, in consultation with the monitoring officer as appropriate, the right to depart from these arrangements in exceptional circumstances (as far as they relate to the business of the Standards Committee for the administration of the fair hearing of a matter) where they consider that it is expedient to do so in order to secure the effective and fair consideration of any matter.

There shall be a desktop review of the code of conduct and these arrangements undertaken by the Committee annually.

Context

This protocol is to be used when conducting investigations into standards allegations under the Localism Act 2011. It should be read in conjunction with the Council’s arrangements for dealing with standards allegations under the Localism Act 2011.

Steps of the investigation initial decision

The monitoring officer will review every complaint received and take a decision as to whether it merits formal investigation. This decision will normally be taken within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint. The monitoring officer must consult with the independent person before deciding whether a formal investigation should be undertaken.

The monitoring officer will complete a decision notice, whether or not a matter is to be investigated, which will outline the reasons for the decision. This will be sent to the:

• complainant
• member against whom the complaint was made
• investigator

If the monitoring officer decides that the complaint merits investigation, investigators will be appointed.

Investigation procedure

At the beginning of the investigation an investigation plan will be completed by the investigators overseen by the monitoring officer. The plan will identify key dates, behaviour alleged, the relevant parts of the code of conduct, issues for determination, evidence required or obtained and the witnesses to be interviewed.

When witnesses are interviewed, a statement will be taken from them which they will be able to check and sign.

It is likely that the subject member will be interviewed at the end of the investigation; however this will be decided on a case by case basis. The interview may be tape recorded or recorded on MS Teams if the interview takes place remotely, unless the subject member objects to this. This ensures that there is no ambiguity as to the matters discussed in interview.

The investigation will be reviewed on a fortnightly basis by the investigators, in consultation with the monitoring officer. The investigation review sheet will be completed on each occasion.

If at any point during the investigation, the investigating officer forms the opinion that the investigation should cease, they will consult with the monitoring officer, who may consult the independent person and take a decision to stop the investigation at any stage. The monitoring officer will complete a decision notice to cease an investigation.

Completion of investigation

At the end of their investigation, the investigating officer will produce a draft report and will send a copy of that draft report, in confidence, to the monitoring officer.

The monitoring officer, if satisfied with the report, will then send the draft report to the complainant and the subject member within five working days.

At this stage, the complainant and the subject member can identify any matter in that draft report which they disagree with or which they consider requires more consideration and will be given a period of 10 working days to comment on the draft report.

Having received any comments, the investigating officer will assess them and complete a comments assessment form.

Once the investigating officer has completed this analysis and made any necessary amendments to the report, the investigating officer will send their final report to the monitoring officer.