We were very lucky to welcome Fiona Anthony from nplaw today to speak at Scribe Academy on a very important topic that is impacting both Clerks and Councillors at parish, town and community councils across England and Wales.

Fiona is a Professional and Practice Development Manager and was appointed as Independent Person for a district council under the Localism Act in 2012, a role which saw complaints against district and parish councillors referred to her for her views to be taken into consideration when determining whether they had breached their council’s Code of Conduct. She is currently a non-executive director of a healthcare community interest company, having a seat at board level representing the patients’ voice.

We had over 70 people joining us live on zoom and YouTube.

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📕 Free Download - CODE OF CONDUCT GUIDE FOR COUNCILLORS

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🐕 The Good

To kick things off, we held two surveys. First we asked our attendees to introduce themselves in the form of their favourite animal. It was no surprise that the dog came out number one, but there were also a few more unusual animals such as the Honey badger, named by Steve McNay Council Manager at Woughton Community Council.

Here are the results in the form of a "word cloud" (shaped like a dog of course!).

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😟 The Bad

Next we ran a poll, asking this question:

Have you ever personally experienced (or supported someone) who has been subjected to any of these behaviours while conducting your work within local government?

The choices were:

• Harassed
• Bullied
• Disrespected
• Discriminated
• Intimidated
• Offended
• Abused physically

As you can see, attendees have experienced all these types of behaviours in the workplace, and many of the attendees experienced it more than once.

😠 The Ugly

We expected to get only few attendees respond, but had an overwhelming response.

70% of attendees said they experienced offensive behaviour, including 7% physical abuse.

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This is simply not good enough in today's society, especially in the local government sector.

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⚖️ Councillors Model Code of Conduct

With this backdrop, we welcomed Fiona to the stage in which she talked us through the Localism Act of 2011 and the "7 Principles of Public Life", which include:

1. Selflessness
2. Integrity
3. Objectivity
4. Accountability
5. Openness
6. Honesty
7. Leadership

She then went on to talk about the Councillors Model Code of Conduct, which applies as soon as the individual signs their Declaration of Acceptance of Office or attends their first meeting as a co-opted member. It continues until they cease to be a councillor. It also applies when an individual’s actions would give the impression, to a reasonable member of the public with knowledge of all the facts, that they are acting as a councillor.

All forms of communication and interaction are included:

• at face-to-face meetings
• at online or telephone meetings
• in written communication
• in verbal communication
• in non-verbal communication
• in electronic and social media communication, posts, statements and comments.

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What is Bullying?

It might: 

• be a regular pattern of behaviour or a one-off incident 
• happen face-to-face, on social media, in emails or phone calls 
• happen in the workplace or at work social events 
• not always be obvious or noticed by others.

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What is Harassment?

Protection from Harassment Act 1997: 

• conduct that causes alarm or distress or puts people in fear of violence 
• must involve such conduct on at least 2 occasions

It can include repeated attempts:

• to impose unwanted communications and contact upon a person 
• in a manner that could be expected 
• to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person.

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What is discrimination?

Unlawful discrimination: someone is treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic.

Fiona then went on to discuss:

• Breaches of the Code of Conduct
• Complaints involving the Clerk 
• Investigations and Safeguards
• Fair Procedure 
• Sanctions 
• Learning Points

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⬇️ Access the Full Event and Slides Here

To see the entire webinar, you can watch it here.

To access the slides, you can click here:

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🔗 Additional Links

LGA Model Code of Conduct:

https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/local-government-association-model-councillor-code-conduct-2020

Guidance on Local Government Association Model Councillor Code of Conduct:

https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/guidance-local-government-association-model-councillor-code-conduct

The LGA Model Code of Conduct does not apply to Wales. Instead this guidance has been published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales: The Code of Conduct for Members of Local Authorities in Wales – Guidance from PSOW for Members of Community and Town Councils

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🙋 Questions and Answers

Is the Model Councillor Code of Conduct 2020 just for England?

Yes. The LGA Model Code of Conduct does not apply to Wales. Instead this guidance has been published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales: The Code of Conduct for Members of Local Authorities in Wales – Guidance from PSOW for Members of Community and Town Councils

Can the code of conduct be reaffirmed and reviewed yearly, along with other policies etc? Further more, can it be acknowledged by the councillors present in  accepting their role as a Parish Councillor and recorded with the minutes of the meeting for the review of documentation etc?

Yes – it can be. It’s a good opportunity to make sure that everyone is familiar with/refreshes their knowledge of the document that governs their behaviour.

What’s the course of action when Councillors are subjected bullying by their Clerk/Manager?

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This would be an employment matter and should be dealt with as one would deal with an employee in any organisation. Informal resolution may be the best initial approach.

There are numerous Codes of Conduct to choose - LGA, NALC, and our own County CoC.  Which one should a Parish Council adopt?  

It is advisable for the parish council to adopt the same code of conduct as its principal authority. If the principal authority’s code of conduct seems outdated or inappropriate, then it is good practice to have a discussion with the principal authority’s Monitoring Officer outlining any issues you may have and seeing whether you can agree on a code that is satisfactory to both..

What if the harassment is coming from members of the public?
How do councillors deal with continued intimidating behaviour from members of the public?

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The LGA has produced a councillors’ guide to handling intimidation which can be found here.

We are unable to challenge decisions made by our MO - there is no right of "appeal" - is this normal?

It will depend upon the process of complaints adopted by the principal authority. Some authorities have a right of appeal to a standards committee/sub-committee but others don’t.

It is possible to apply to the court for judicial review on the grounds that the Monitoring Officer's decision is illegal, unfair, irrational and/or not proportional but this is very unusual and you would need to seek legal advice before making any such application.

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman does not offer a right of appeal against the Monitoring Officer’s decision but it can consider if there was administrative fault in the way the Council considered the complaint. The Ombudsman will only investigate complaints if there is sufficient injustice to warrant its involvement or it considers it in the public interest to do so.

When can a Cllr be suspended? For example if they are person of interest in a police investigation?

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A councillor can only be suspended if they are bankrupted, or imprisoned for three months following a criminal conviction, or fail to attend meetings for six months.

What if clerk has a complaint against a councillor and the chair or council refuses to submit complaint to MO.  Where does the clerk go then?

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It is good practice for the chair or council to submit the complaint on behalf of the clerk but not essential. The clerk can make the complaint themselves.

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When a complaint has been lodged against a Chairman by a Councillor, can mandatory training be imposed not only on the Chairman but also for the Clerk (who is not party to the complaint and was not interviewed)?

No. The making of a complaint alone is not sufficient justification for imposing any sanction – it needs to be properly investigated and a breach found. If the code of conduct has been found to have been breached following a fair and proper procedure, sanctions can be imposed on the Chair that should be proportionate to the breach. Mandatory training may be an appropriate sanction for the Chair.

As for the Clerk or other staff, the need for training might arise as a natural result of the investigation and an employer does have the right to ask staff to undertake training. Whether that is the right thing to do will depend on the specific circumstances  of the case, the relevance of the training and it not being viewed as a punishment to the clerk. You need to take care on this to avoid any constructive dismissal issues arising as a result of breakdown of trust and confidence.

Is it appropriate to for a clerk who is feeling vulnerable due to behaviours/bullying to insist on no one-to-one meetings?

In the first instance, the clerk needs to raise their concerns with their immediate line manager who normally is the Chair. They should discuss what has been happening and then, based on that discussion, decide whether or not it would be appropriate to put in place some safeguards around meetings -  ultimately it’s about assessing the individual’s view and what a reasonable person would think of the situation.  If there is a concern about councillors’ behaviour, this could be a Standards issue.  If the concern relates to the general public, then a risk assessment should be undertaken from a safety perspective.  Councils need to factor in their duty of care to provide staff with a safe working environment and to not discuss this or take any precautionary steps could make them vulnerable to legal action.  A common sense view should be adopted and Councils need to factor in that some clerks and other staff may have disability rights which need to be addressed, such as  stress or anxiety, under the duty to make reasonable adjustments .  It may be possible to deal with matters informally but it may have to be dealt with formally – a lot hinges on the facts of each particular case.

Do you have an example of a complaints policy and vexatious complaints policy that is editable please?

There are several adopted policies of other councils that are published on the internet that can be adapted to suit the circumstances of the town/parish council.

In a nutshell, what recourse if you have been bullied?

It depends on your role and who is doing the bullying. In general, it is best to raise your concerns as soon as possible. Many Councils have bullying policies which set out what should be done and these should be followed. If your council doesn’t have a bullying policy, you might want to consider adopting one.