Between 1st March 2018 and 28th February this year, eleven formal complaints have been made against Salford councillors or co-opted members, the Council's Monitoring Officer, Miranda Carruthers-Watt, reports.
Of the eleven complaints, four were upheld, one was partially upheld and two cases remain open, while four cases were not upheld.
Upheld cases were for 'breach of the councillors' code of conduct' and a 'problem with the attitude or behaviour of the Councillor'...
Case 1...
Complaint by another member: 'Hostile comments made about the complainant on an email to all members and some officers'.
Outcome: Taken to Standards Committee but as the councillor had left the Council, the complaint was closed.
Case 2...
Complaint by a community committee member: 'Inappropriate response given to a committee member at a community meeting'.
Outcome: Apology made by councillor.
Case 3...
Complaint by a community committee member: 'an email sent to the Community
Committee included untrue statements, and calls the complainant's reputation into
question'.
Outcome: Apology from councillor.
Case 4...
Complaint made by councillors: 'Complaint regarding comments made in a post put on social media by member'.
Outcome: Apology given to other members but this was not accepted, so complaint taken to Standards Committee.
Case 5...
Complaint made by member of the public: 'Complaint made about issues regarding a planning application but also specifically about the conduct of the chair of the planning panel'.
Outcome: 'monitoring officer investigated how the panel was conducted and found it to be fair', although the complaint was partially upheld. The case led to a 'review of the practise of pre-application discussions in the light of the Local Government Association guidance'; 'improve the guidance available on the Council's website'; 'ensure training for Panel members is maintained' and to 'explore how Planning Panel meetings may be streamed live'.
Case 6...
Complaint made by member of the public: Complaint mainly about issues with a
planning application but also stated a councillor had intervened with the planning process on behalf of the applicant'.
Outcome: Ongoing, although the report states that there's been 'no further correspondence from complainant on the matter relating to the member and why they believe they were in the wrong. Complaint also included issues with a planning
application which were addressed at Stage 1'.
Case 7...
Complaint made by 'other': 'Complaint about member not acting impartially in relation to a planning application whilst being the Chair of the Planning Panel'
Outcome: Ongoing... 'Monitoring officer corrected complaint that the member was not the chair of the planning panel but Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development and sits as a member of the planning panel. Complaint considered at
a Hearings Panel sub-committee on 28 February'.
Amongst complaints not upheld were a councillor showing 'biased behaviour in a planning meeting', inappropriate text messages, a councillor not getting back to a constituent about an issue, and a complaint about a councillor blocking off parking spaces at an event at Salford Lads Club.
Astoundingly, none of the councillors found guilty of a breach of conduct or inappropriate behaviour have been named in the report. Surely if a councillor has acted outside the code of conduct residents should know about it, particularly if they are re-standing for office.
In January, the Committee on Standards in Public Life reported to the Prime Minister on the subject of ethical standards in local government, and noted that rules around conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality were inadequate, and that there was unacceptable behaviour by some councillors, which included bullying and harassment.
The MPs' report concluded that councillors should be held to account more
effectively and that the standards process should be fair and transparent. Judging by the above case studies, this doesn't happen in Salford Council, as the process is swathed in secrecy.
Meanwhile, Salford Council has drafted its responses to the recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
On the point that 'Local authorities should update their gifts and hospitality
register at least once per quarter, and publish it in an accessible format', the Council responds that "Members' Services issue a bi-monthly reminder to all members of their obligations to update their gifts and hospitality register, together with a copy of the relevant form.
"The threshold for declarations at Salford City Council is £100 and to date no member has submitted a completed form. The threshold in some local authorities is set at £25 and with this in mind the Standards Committee may consider it appropriate to review this Council's threshold". This is a further shocking indictment of how Salford Council is run.
Meanwhile, the Standards in Public Life report also recommends that 'Councils should report on separate bodies they have set up or which they own as part of their annual governance statement and give a full picture of their relationship with those bodies. Separate bodies created by local authorities should abide by the Nolan principle of openness, and publish their board agendas and minutes and annual reports in an accessible place'...
This is another crucial area within Salford Council with a transparency bypass...Take the Council's new housing company Derive, where no detailed financial figures have been made public, nor in relation to the Council's dealings with the English Cities Fund, its AJ Bell Stadium company and lots more.
The Monitoring Officer merely 'invites' councillors to comment on this
recommendation, 'in order to assist the Monitoring Officer to formulate any corresponding recommendations to the City Mayor'.
As many Salford City councillors tell the Salford Star – off the record of course – there is very little openness or transparency within the ruling elite on the Council. And if councillors don't know what the hell is going on, how can residents or the media get a grip on the machinations of Salford City Council?
To make a complaint against a councillor – click here
See also previous Salford Star articles...
Salford Labour Councillor Resigns From 'Morally Corrupt' Party – click here
Conditions Ripe For Corruption in UK Local Government – click here
Salford Council Can Bin Information Requests From Press and Public – Official! – click here
Salford Council Lessons from Rotherham – click here
Salford Council Code of Conduct Not Breached By Councillor Decides, Er, Salford Council – click here
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