Councillor Mental Health following Bullying

Question

Has anyone received or witnessed such poor behaviour (isolating, radio silence, bullying, intimidation etc) from other Councillors that has succumbed to them having to receive treatment for mental health?

Are Councillors allowed to have 'timeout', away from Council business, like MPs have?

How should a Council respond?

Any advice or words of wisdom received would be appreciated.

Feel free to.post on here or private message, thank you.

Answer 1

Very deep question which would of course require a lot more evidence and detail and professional examination on the mental health accusation. Not for one moment denigrating the effects of mental health but there seems to be a trend within society at the moment to play the mental health card without professional intervention as a reason to get what one wants. Your example of the new MP who stated that she needed "time out" after the strains of electioneering is a prime example. What on earth did she think being elected as an MP was all about?. Bullying again, is a term that is bandied around these days with gay abandon and means many things to as any people. I once interrupted another councillor during a debate ( wrongly ) and was accused by the person of bullying!!! Despite the fact that I was correcting a mistake in what they stated.

So without specific confirmation of claims the council would be hard pressed to act on such allegations.

Answer 2

Beyond offering apologies (or applying for a dispensation on medical ground) nothing really in the way of support.  Staff have some limited protection (employment law & policy enshrining that) in contrast elected members seem to be left largely left to own devices.  On personal level lost count how many times nearly walked a way but the fact know its what "they" want have somehow hung in and stayed.

Answer 3

I think at the very least this must be time for the Council as a whole to reflect on its past behaviour.  The people that make up the council are all individuals and poor behaviour towards one another should not be allowed at any level.  None of us know how other people feel or how strong a person is,  but we do know when something is wrong.
If any member of the council feels something inappropriate is being said or done to or from anyone they should have a duty to speak out.  It takes guts to speak out but lack of action will often only make situations escalate.

Comments

Take a look at this article which halfway down relates to a mental health issue and the court's response
https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/employment/395-employment-news/47683-senior-council-officer-fails-in-harassment-claim-against-local-blogger