'Aggression' and 'lack of civility' - concerns over 'worrying trends' of behaviour at South Tyneside Council

Professor Grahame Wright, independent chair of the council’s Standards Committee, was speaking at a virtual meeting on September 14 during his annual report.

While noting the progress the committee had made, such as improving systems for recording and tracking complaints and updated inductions for new councillors, the standards boss raised several concerns.

“I have to say I think we have done an enormous amount of work and I think we have put standards very firmly on the agenda in the borough,” he said.

“But there are some worrying trends and I have listed them here but I’m going to read them out because I do feel actually quite strongly about this.

“The deteriorating standard of debate and the lack of civility in the behaviour of some members at full council meetings and some community area forums.

“Now these are my observations. I have not been reliant on evidence, I have just seen things myself and heard them.

“And I was minded to recall an old preacher talking about, it was probably 19th Century religion, but he said ‘it’s one thing to hate the sin but not hate the sinner.’

“And I would urge all of us to bear in mind that no matter how strongly we feel somebody is doing something wrong or they’re not doing enough, that we must attempt to maintain a civil relationship.

“Otherwise, it descends into simply the loudest voices winning and that isn’t the way to make appropriate decisions for our town.”

Other ‘chair’s observations’ in the annual report included the “often aggressive tone and language used by councillors and their supporters in social media posts and other communications about councillors and officers of South Tyneside Borough Council and other agencies.”

The report also noted “the serious nature of some allegations made about a small number of councillors,” the limited range of sanctions available for those who have breached the code of conduct and the increased workload for council staff due to the increase in code of conduct complaints.

Between January and June this year, nearly 180 indications of potential complaints were made to the monitoring officer through emails, letters or calls.

As the majority of complainants provided no detail of the alleged breach of the code of conduct, they were not progressed.

Out of the 50 complaints remaining, around 12 have been escalated to the ‘formal investigation’ stage.

The remainder were classed as ‘concerns with no evidence’ or were informally resolved and/or closed.

No case has yet reached the final stage which includes the matter being referred to the Standards Committee for a formal hearing.

Legal chiefs have said that complaints under the code of conduct are increasing with no indication of slowing down.Professor Wright’s report reads: “Whilst ‘the democratic process’ is necessarily confrontational and possibly divisive, if our community is to advance, democracy requires civility in the relations between all participants and their supporters.”

It adds: “Ultimately the ethical standards of South Tyneside Borough Council are dependent on our individual standards of behaviour and what we are willing to tolerate."

A message from the editor

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Shields Gazette website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.shieldsgazette.com/subscriptions to sign up.

You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here: https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/.

Thank you.