‘It’s a step in the right direction’ - Nairn Provost reacts as plans to place community councillors under independent watchdog get green light
The Provost of Nairn said he was ‘very pleased’ that a motion seeking to place community councillors under the scrutiny of an independent watchdog has been passed.
Highland councillors agreed to make representation to the minister for local government, asking for community councillors to be considered within the Ethical Standard in Public Life (Scotland) Act, meaning that complaints against them will be dealt with by the Standards Commission - the same body regulating councillors’ conduct.
The motion, brought forward by Caithness councillor Struan Mackie, stated that despite the existence of a code of conduct within the scheme of establishment, it was feared instances of “improper interactions” with the local authority (its elected councillors and staff), community groups and the general public would “continue to arise”.
During the discussion, Nairn Provost Laurie Fraser said that he was in favour of the proposal, stating that he had “given up” attending the meetings held by the town’s two community councils, Nairn River and Nairn West and Suburban, saying this was due to the “abuse” and “aggressiveness” directed towards him by some community councillors.
He said: “I am quite happy this went through. Whether we can actually do anything in the long term, we don’t know.
“We are having a review of the community council’s scheme of establishment at the moment so we’ll wait to see what happens, probably around Christmas time.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
Cllr Mackie underlined that the initiative was not aimed at condemning community councils or related to any individual cases, but as a way of providing a “clear, transparent and external” process to deal with complaints against community councillors.
He said: “This motion is to acknowledge that, as a local authority, we currently do not have a satisfactory mechanism that can adequately, equitably and transparently deal with complaints that may come from members of the public, community councillors and community councils at large.
“This applies for the complainants, but also to those that are subject to complaint.
“This is, in my opinion, through no fault of this council nor staff members in community support and ward management roles, many of whom are inevitably called away from their core roles to try and deal with what complaints, grievances and general issues may arise with our community councils.
“I believe this is because our most local form of government sits awkwardly in the hierarchy of local democracy.
“Our community councillors hold elected positions and, despite being tasked by providing input on a wide variety of statutory duties and providing a genuine local forum in each of our communities that they represent, I believe that it is a voluntary vocation and one that is immensely under-appreciated and, by many, misunderstood.”
He added that he believed the jobs of community councils could be made even more difficult when those disputes go unresolved, a further reason why he brought forward this motion.
Council leader Raymond Bremner said that, although he was “under no illusion” that the request may be turned down, he’d be happy to write to the minister for local government.
Kevin Reid, chairman of Nairn West and Suburban Community Council, said: “We have no concerns with a formal and transparent process being implemented for dealing with and defending complaints against community councils, the more time-efficient and cost-efficient the better in the present budget environment.
“We will continue to invite Cllr Fraser to our meetings in the hope that he will join his fellow councillors in what we believe are respectful discussions on the issues facing our community. The agendas and minutes of our meetings may be accessed at nwscc.org.uk.”
Nairn River Community Council was contacted for comment.
