Call for independent body to deal with complaints on community council’s conduct set to be discussed today
Highland councillors are calling for a more “fair and robust” process to deal with complaints addressed to community councils.
A notice of motion set to be discussed at a Highland Council meeting today (Thursday, October 31) proposes that complaints relating to community councillor’s conduct should be dealt with by the Standards Commission, the independent body which currently oversees complaints against councillors.
According to the motion being proposed, this comes after instances of “improper interactions” with the local authority (its elected councillors and staff), community groups and the general public which it is feared “will continue to arise”.
Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Struan Mackie, who is bringing the motion forward, said he hopes the introduction of an independent body in assessing complaints will improve the way community councils work.
He said: “I have been a councillor for just over seven years and a big integral part of what we do is going to community council meetings week in and week out across our various wards.
“Something that’s been raised a number of times, is that there’s a different approach in terms of when issues are raised roundabout councillor conduct, whether it’s within the local authority or the Highland Council – like myself – or indeed within the community councils.
“I’m sure that the vast majority of community councillors who go about their work are very committed to their communities – and are doing it on a volunteer basis – so this motion won’t affect 99.9 per cent of them.
“This is really for those odd cases that come up that it seems to have perennially think about and there doesn’t seem to be any meaningful resolution for either side.
“I think it was quite clear that there wasn’t a particularly robust mechanism for dealing with complaints that could come from fellow community councillors or the community.”
He said that after asking other councillors and Highland Council staff, he found the overall response was that something should be done to address issues in the process.
Community councillors in the Highlands have to adhere to the code of conduct set out in the scheme of establishment.
According to the existing guidance, issues relating to community councillors’ conduct should be addressed to the community council itself in the first instance, with the only recourse in escalating the matter through the Ward Management structure (now Local Community Development Manager).
However, the local authority does not have power to enforce actions even when there are breaches.
A notable case was recently highlighted in Nairn, with some local councillors admitting they were no longer attending one community council’s meetings due to the adversarial atmosphere in the room.
Cllr Mackie said that the motion wants to address the problem in general rather than referring to specific cases, adding that having an independent body involved in the process would be beneficial for community councillors as well.
He said: “The scheme will capture the vast majority of cases, however we are increasingly seeing that there are some specific cases that are falling in the gaps and are not getting dealt with by the scheme. It’s not a satisfactory outcome for those involved, and I would argue that is also not satisfactory for those who are being complained about.
“I want a framework to be in place that both sides can feel is a fair, robust and open process, and I think that at the moment I feel that there are community councillors that feel they want to have a process that they can understand better.
“It’s also important that there is a robust process so that community councillors feel that they can defend themselves if they have done nothing wrong.”
“In my experience with the Standards Commission, it’s very upfront and open and I think it would be a great place to start with.”
The motion has also been signed by Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss, Inverness Ness-side councillor Alasdair Christie and Eilean a’ Cheò councillor Ruarish Stewart.