Agenda item
Complaints (Members Code of Conduct and Complaints)
This report informs Members of (a) recent complaints concerning breaches of the Member’s Code of Conduct and in particular, the complaint upheld against Councillor Aslam Choudry; and (b) an update on the LGA draft Model Code of Conduct.
Minutes:
Debra Norman, Director of Legal, HR, Audit & Investigations, introduced a report providing an update on recent complaints breach of the Member’s Code of Conduct and in particular a complaint upheld against Cllr Aslam Choudry and the Local Government Association (LGA)’s draft Model Code of Conduct. The Committee was then invited to raise questions on the report, which focused on a number of key areas as highlighted below:
· It was explained that the Member’s Code of Conduct extended to members in their role as a councillor only. Specific training was given to members to allow them to understand when they are working in their capacity as a councillor. The Council was also working on guidance for members about the risks and responsibilities of being part of external bodies and when you may or may not be acting in the role of a councillor in that context.
· It was noted that the Committee was required to review the handling of complaints, reviews and decisions made with a view to identifying trends and any changes needed to the complaints procedure. The Committee would receive an update at its next meeting regarding this. In this particular case reported to the Committee, trends were a significant consideration in that the member in question had previously posted inappropriate content on social media.
· In response to a question from the Committee, it was noted that that the decision notice had been published on the website but had not been proactively shared with the community. It was suggested that this could be something the Council would look to do in the future.
· The Committee asked whether the member in question had reached out to the affected community. It was noted that the public apology was as far as the member’s engagement had gone, and the Committee commented that other ways of requiring members who breached the code to reach out to affected parties should be considered in future.
· The Committee suggested that the Council should keep abreast of current forms and trends of social media and provide relevant guidance to members on a regular basis. The Director of Legal, HR, Audit & Investigations highlighted the limited sanctions which it was possible to impose.
· It was noted that this case had caused reputational damage to the Council. It was suggested that the public may not appreciate that some aspects of the matter could be investigated with the vigour that the public may expect due to the limitations of the Localism Act 2011. In this, the Council was bound by national standards and a public apology was the strongest sanction it could recommend by way of reaching out.
· There was no standard applied to public apologies. The Council did not have the power to force a member to make a public apology or determine its wording, but only to recommend they do so. In practice, it was for the public judge the standards of public apologies offered.
The Chair then thanked the Director of Legal, HR, Audit & Investigations and the wider team of officers for the comprehensive report and clarifications provided at the meeting.
Resolved
To note the contents of the Code of Conduct and Complaints report.
Supporting documents:
- Code of Conduct Complaints Report, item 8. PDF 94 KB
- Appendix A - Decision Notice, item 8. PDF 421 KB