South Tyneside councillor receives 'formal censure' and email restrictions after 'offensive' comments

Councillor Keith Roberts, independent Bede ward member, was the focus of a South Tyneside Council Standards Committee earlier this year in relation to a complaint lodged back in 2020.

A formal investigation was triggered after concerns were raised about emails and social media posts made about then Labour councillor for the Bede ward, Margaret Peacock.

Some examples of the language used, listed in a council report, referred to Cllr Peacock as “corrupt”, “rotten” and “filthy”, and an “evil parasite” and “disgusting clown”.

Cllr Peacock submitted the complaint alleging that she felt bullied and in a statement provided as part of an investigation, said Cllr Roberts was “relentlessly disrespectful” and that she felt “dispirited” and “really demoralised”.

It was not disputed that Cllr Roberts made the comments and in an earlier correspondence with the council, the independent councillor said there was “no such thing as the code of conduct” and that the comments were “name calling at best”.

At a meeting of the Standards Committee on March 18, 2024, councillors on the panel discussed the findings of an investigating officer’s report into the complaint around alleged breaches of the council’s code of conduct.

This included the principles of accountability and leadership and ‘disrepute’, with the investigating officer describing the social media posts and emails as “offensive, insulting and humiliating” and “extremely personal and disparaging rather than healthy, robust challenge”.

The Standards Committee found that the comments from Cllr Roberts “failed to treat the complainant with respect” and that by  “sending the emails and publishing the posts”, the communications “amounted to bullying”.

The official recommendations from the Standards Committee included all South Tyneside councillors issuing a “formal censure” to Cllr Roberts and the independent councillor’s “access to council facilities” being restricted for six months.

This included “all email communications sent by him to elected members and council officers (either from his council email address or any personal email address) being diverted into a single email inbox”.

Council documents said the email inbox would be monitored on a daily basis on weekdays by council officers, and communications would be “forwarded to the appropriate individual or service for consideration and if appropriate, action as soon as practicable”.

At the most recent full meeting of South Tyneside Council on July 25, 2024, a majority of borough councillors voted to impose these sanctions on Cllr Roberts.

Although some opposition councillors raised concerns about the email restrictions impacting the independent councillor’s duties, all recommendations from the Standards Committee were eventually approved.

Cllr Roberts did not attend the previous Standards Committee hearing at South Shields Town Hall due to work commitments but was represented at the time by fellow independent councillor John Robertson.

Cllr Robertson, speaking at July’s full council, claimed the previous Standards Committee decision “did not consider freedom of speech” under the Human Rights Act.

The independent councillor hinted there would be an ombudsman complaint and said that if full council did not consider freedom of speech when making sanctions, they would be “acting illegally”.

However, the comments were challenged by Nicola Robason, the council’s director of governance and corporate affairs and monitoring officer.

The council officer said points around human rights were “absolutely considered in the investigation” into the complaint, and that the decision before councillors around sanctions was “in no way breaking the law”.

Cllr Keith Roberts, speaking at the July full council meeting, criticised the council’s monitoring officer for not giving him a “week’s grace’ to attend his own standards hearing and accused her of “double standards” over decisions around a different standards hearing.

Councillor Fay Cunningham, Mayor of South Tyneside, said elected members should not “disrespect” council officers in the council chamber and that it was “not to be tolerated”.

Councillor Paul Brenen, independent member, said the complaint came at a “period of high tension” within the council.

Cllr Brenen clarified that he couldn’t condone the actions of Cllr Roberts, but added the proposed sanctions were “too harsh” and “not the right answer”.

Councillor David Kennedy, independent and leader of the South Tyneside Alliance Group, said it was “wholly unreasonable” to restrict emails for six months, given the time that had passed since the original complaint.

Councillor Chris Davies, Green Party councillor, said he understood the “cut and thrust” of politics but that Cllr Roberts’s behaviour went “above and beyond” and that all councillors should “conduct ourselves with grace and courtesy at all times”.

Councillor Jim Yare, also of the Green Party, supported the formal censure but said he would oppose the restrictions around council resources, which he claimed would “deprive the people [Cllr Roberts] represents of an adequate service by this local authority”.

This included the email restrictions potentially creating delays in councillor responses to casework, including urgent casework.

Councillor Jane Carter, South Tyneside Council’s deputy leader, said the proposed email sanctions wouldn’t “block” emails but would instead, change “the way they’re being dealt with”.

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The Labour Party councillor added that the decision of the Standards Committee had not been challenged by Cllr Roberts and that a review of the decision had not been requested.

Cllr John Robertson, speaking towards the end of the debate, reflected on his experience of having his councillor emails diverted and the “confusion” and “contradictions” this causes.

Cllr Robertson said: “We’re talking tonight about diverting Cllr Roberts’s emails.

“Only I can tell you and tell this council what that causes and the confusion it causes […] it’s unbelievable the lack of responses, the contradictions between councillors in the ward.

“A point of information to the deputy leader, when she just said the Standards Committee is all singing and dancing, it’s not, it’s a kangaroo court, it always has been and it always will be”.

After the debate closed, the Standards Committee’s recommended sanctions for Cllr Keith Roberts were put to individual votes and approved by a majority of councillors present.

This included a formal censure being issued, a recommendation to restrict emails, and the email restrictions running for a period of six calendar months.

Cllr Roberts was first elected to serve the Bede ward at local elections in May, 2019, as an independent and was re-elected for another term at the 2023 local elections.

The independent councillor has previously clashed with Labour’s Cllr Peacock and submitted a complaint about a text she made to a community centre official, which was escalated to a Standards Committee hearing in 2021.

The committee found at the time that in sending the text message, Cllr Peacock “failed to treat the recipient with respect and decency” but that the conduct “did not amount to bullying”.

Margaret Peacock is no longer a councillor and lost her seat to an independent candidate in the May 2024 local elections.

The July 2024 full council meeting was broadcast on South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel and is still available to view.

A spokesperson for South Tyneside Council, in a statement this week, said: “No request for a review of the decision of Standards Committee has been received.

“It would not be appropriate for the council to confirm or comment on any other actual or potential challenge.

“However, the council is confident that code of conduct complaint C20a was progressed at all stages in a fair, legally compliant and appropriate manner.”