A new Ealing Council report has revealed 20 complaints were made against Ealing councillors in just over a year, with more than half alleging they failed to respond to residents.
The findings are contained in the council’s Annual Review of Standards Complaints, which covers the period from 1 March 2025 to 31 May 2026 and will be considered by Ealing Council’s Standards Committee on Wednesday (24 June 2026).
More than half of the complaints related to allegations that councillors failed to respond to residents. Other complaints involved allegations of misuse of position, disrespectful behaviour, failing to engage with residents and providing inaccurate information.
Of the 20 complaints received, 13 were dismissed at an initial stage, five failed a second-stage assessment, one was withdrawn and one was resolved informally.
The review was written by James Ellis, Ealing Council’s director of legal and democratic services.
While the total is higher than the six complaints recorded in the previous review, Mr Ellis said the figures should be viewed in context. The latest report covers a longer period and involved 12 complainants, with some people making complaints about more than one councillor.
Mr Ellis wrote in the report: “None of the complaints received have been referred for formal investigation although in some cases other action was taken.”
The report does not provide any further details about what action was taken.
Residents do not have a formal right of appeal if the council’s monitoring officer decides not to investigate a complaint. However, anyone unhappy with the way their complaint was handled can raise concerns with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
No such referrals were made during the period covered by the review.
Committee members will also be updated on Government plans to reform the standards regime for councillors.
Proposed changes include a mandatory code of conduct, statutory standards committees and stronger sanctions, including powers to suspend councillors found to have breached the rules.
