Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Paragraph 1    Information relating to an individual

RESOLVED -

that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Paragraph 1    Information relating to an individual

The Chairman stated that the purpose of the meeting was to hold a Local Hearing into a complaint received against a Councillor, which alleged that the Councillor had failed to comply with the Members’ Code of Conduct.  Before commencing with the hearing the Chairman confirmed that all parties had been sent a copy of the agenda and supporting information setting out the facts of the complaint, and that all parties were content for the local hearing to be heard that day.

The complaints allege a breach of the Buckingham Town Council Code of Conduct (BTC Code) by Cllr Collins when on 4 August 2020 she reposted on her personal Facebook account an alleged racist post to a fellow Councillor who was a Facebook friend. This repost remained visible on both the sender and recipient’s accounts until deleted on or around 20 December 2020. The post that was reposted from Cllr Collins’ account had been endorsed by the comment “thought this was good”. The post had previously been posted by a third party.

The process to be followed at the Hearing was outlined and it was noted that the Sub-Committee would need to determine whether there had been a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct and, if so, what, if any, action should be taken as a result. 

In addition to the Members of the Sub-Committee, the meeting was attended by the Subject Member, a further Councillor, the Town and Deputy Town Clerk and the Investigating Officer, Catherine Herries-Smith.

In terms of the process the hearing was conducted as follows:-

·         Nick Graham, Service Director of Legal and Democratic Services, stated that if the Sub-Committee found that there had been a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct, the available sanctions available were set out in the report.

·         The Chairman introduced Catherine Herries-Smith to the Sub-Committee who had been appointed by the Monitoring Officer to investigate the matter and report the findings to the Sub-Committee, following the decision of the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Independent Person, Sarah Austin.

·         The Subject Member Cllr Collins presented her statement.

·         Representations were heard from the Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk and a Buckingham Town Councillor.

The list of issues for determination by the Sub-Committee were as follows:-

1. How did the Facebook post come to be re-shared?  Was it posted by Councillor Collins?  Was she hacked or impersonated?  Was the post in the public domain?
2. If the post was shared by Councillor Collins was she acting in her capacity as a Councillor or in her personal capacity?
3. Which elements of the Code are engaged?
4. Whether the content of the re-shared post was unacceptable and amounted to a breach of the Code of Conduct for BTC?
5. Whether the post falls within any protections under Article 10 of the European Convention – right to freedom of expression.

Members of the Hearings Sub-Committee were satisfied that they had sufficient evidence to come to a considered conclusion on the matter – i.e. to determine whether  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.