A PARISH councillor accused of “aggressive, harassing and bullying conduct” could face a range of tough punishments following an investigation into their behaviour next week.
Complaints made in September 2020 alleged the elected representative had breached the councillor code of conduct by ‘bringing the council into disrepute’, ‘discriminating’ against the complainant, and by ‘failing’ to treat the aggrieved ‘with respect’.
The complainant claimed: “[They] displayed aggressive, harassing and bullying conduct towards [me] in written communications, meetings and in the wider public realm.
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“[The] councillor’s behaviour has been witnessed by members, officers and the public.
“Informal attempts to resolve the situation have been unsuccessful as several councillors had assured me they had spoken to [the] councillor to inform him that his conduct towards me was unacceptable and must stop.
“Despite this, the situation has continued and escalated to a point it is impacting my health and well-being.”
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A Bracknell Forest Council report outlining the complaint has anonymised the councillor accused of bullying, but the member is said to be from one of the borough’s parish councils.
The complaint was submitted last year with evidence relating to seven specific incidents from between January and September 2020.
Following this, the complaint was investigated by a Mr Richard Beaumont, a former BFC department head who has worked in the public sector for more than 40 years.
Mr Beaumont found the councillor did fail to comply with the members’ code of conduct on six counts of bullying, six counts of failing to treat others with respect and one count of bringing the council or their office into disrepute.
It was recommended the councillor should send a written apology to the complainant, undertake refresher training on the code of conduct and should be monitored by officers.
In response, the councillor accepted only some of these recommendations.
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They only accepted a breach of the code in relation to one of the bullying incidents cited by the complainant and therefore indicated they would only send a written apology on that basis.
This apology was rejected by a council officer as it “fell short” in recognising the findings of the investigation.
As a resolution has not been reached between BFC and the councillor, a panel made up of borough councillors will decide whether the accused member did, in fact, fail to comply with the code of conduct.
If the panel does find the councillor guilty, they can issue a number of punishments against them, including:
- Issuing a press release on their findings
- Ordering them to send a written apology to the complainant
- Removing them from any committees they are a member of
- Removing any portfolio responsibilities they have
- Instructing them to undertake further training
The panel will meet on Thursday, January 28 to determine whether the accused councillor did breach the code of conduct.
Press and the public are banned from watching the panel due to the personal details set to be discussed at the meeting.
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