Yahoo News Councillor accused of lack of respect set to undergo further standards training
A town councillor accused of not treating people with respect could have to undergo additional training.
The councillor, who has not been named, was made subject to a standards complaint and said to have brought the town council they are a member of “into disrepute”.
The complaint alleged a code of conduct breach and was considered by an assessment sub committee convened by Redcar and Cleveland Council consisting of elected councillors and two independent members.
An investigation by a council officer led to a report being compiled for the panel, which met behind closed doors last month.
No formal action was deemed necessary, but the panel concluded that the council’s monitoring officer should “offer to discuss the provisions of the code of conduct relating to respect and how these translate into practical day to day examples”.
It also suggested that the councillor in question should be given additional training in relation to code of conduct rules.
Earlier this month a report for the borough council by cabinet member for resources, Councillor Christopher Massey revealed that there had 31 code of conduct complaints in Redcar and Cleveland since local elections last May, 18 of these relating to elected members on the higher authority and 13 relating to parish councillors.
This compared to 83 in the four year period prior to the elections.
Cllr Massey’s report said: “There are a number of factors giving rise to this position, but the increasing use of social media is generally viewed as a key factor in the rise in complaints.
“Whilst code of conduct issues of course must be managed professionally and in accordance with required procedures, the process takes time and resources to manage.”
Separately, in terms of broader corporate complaints, in February the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman issued a new complaint handling code for local councils to follow.
As a result Redcar and Cleveland Council has now modified its own procedure, moving to a more streamlined two-step rather than three-step process, while initial complaints are now required to be responded to within ten rather than the previous 20 working days.
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