Meeting documents

A report was considered which detailed the background to the case of Harvey v Ledbury Town Council which was heard by the High Court in May 2018. This dealt with the issue of sanctions against elected members, and the process through which sanctions could legally be imposed in respect of perceived misconduct.

Complaints had been made in relation to the alleged conduct of Councillor Harvey, a member of Ledbury Town Council, by the Town Clerk, who lodged a grievance alleging that Councillor Harvey had bullied, intimidated and harassed staff. The grievance was subsequently heard by a panel of senior Town Councillors. Councillor Harvey did not attend, indicating that she did not recognise the authority of the Panel, and had requested that the matter be properly investigated under the Standards procedure. The Monitoring Officer had also advised that the Standards process be used to handle the complaint, but the Town Council’s Panel did consider the grievance and imposed a number of sanctions and restrictions for a 12 month period. An appeal by Cllr Harvey was rejected, and the restrictions were implemented and, following a review at the end of the 12 months, at which Cllr Harvey was also not present, expanded, to prevent her from communicating with all staff.

 Following self-referral of the complaint concerning her alleged conduct to the Monitoring Officer and subsequent investigation by an external investigator, it was established that there had been no breach of the Town Council`s Code of Conduct.

A challenge by Cllr Harvey by way of judicial review led to the court upholding her claim, making it clear that a Council could not pursue a grievance procedure against a Councillor alongside or as an alternative to a standards regime procedure, and that the imposition of the restrictions were outside the Town Council’s powers. Furthermore the decision making process was held to have been unfair both substantively and procedurally.

A Member asked if the case in question would be applicable to District Councillors in addition to Parish Councillors. This was confirmed in the affirmative.

 Another Member expressed the view that the current framework for regulating Member complaints and conduct following the introduction of the 2012 standards regime had taken away the power of Councils to impose a number of sanctions unless the misconduct was of a criminal nature. The Monitoring Officer stated that the effectiveness of sanctions was an ongoing debate and that negative publicity was considered to be the most effective deterrent to misconduct.

The Monitoring Officer outlined the implications of this case, which she stated clarified the process used to consider alleged misconduct, establishing an important principle for standards cases. She emphasised that if a breach was found to have occurred sanctions can only be imposed under the Code of Conduct process, and not though a grievance procedure. Furthermore it was highlighted that the process had to be fair and in accordance with the rules of natural justice. These case would be borne in mind in the provision of advice in any future cases.

RESOLVED: The report be noted.