Raising a vote of no confidence in a councillor colleague

Question

I have been recommended by the Monitoring Officer to raise a motion of no confidence in a colleague who is failing to act in their role. Their failure to act is not seen as a code of conduct issue. Has anyone successfully done this and how did you go about it? The main purpose as I see it, would be to air some seriously poor behaviour on their part to my other colleagues and the public. Thank you.

Answer 1

It will have to go on a full council meeting as an agenda item. It would be prudent to include "for failing to meet the requirements of the position as (role)" . Some evidenced examples should be available to quote.

Comments

Unless there was a very specific and detailed motion text submitted in advance it would never see the light of day on an agenda for a meeting I chaired.
It sounds like a genuinely pointless, potentially inappropriate, course of action.
The only authority to adjudicate Cllr behaviour is the MO and / or the police.
Even if you manage to feature a confidence vote, it has absolutely no relevance nor capacity to effect change - unless the subject elects to voluntarily change. How likely would that be…?

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Placing this information on the public record this winter could be beneficial if you have elections scheduled for next May.

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Yes, good point, there is a third (most important) element that can adjudicate Cllr behaviour - the electorate. But for that to work there actually has to be an election (rather than the usual insufficient candidates leading to an uncontested election AND there needs to be sufficient interest and engagement from the voting community to actually make a difference.)

As if having enough quality candidates for an effective election, and a sufficiently engaged voting public was not a big enough mountain to climb, you’d then face the very real prospect of a (so-called) vote of no confidence being interpreted as a preemptive, coordinated, collective act of bullying and intimidation which could place the instigator(s) in the dock.
I can’t imagine any way it could turn out well.

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It might be a way to surface it in meeting, to go on the record, to try to do things the right way? I know that I would lose the vote, if it sees the light of day. What else can I do?

Answer 2

Your Monitoring Officer is an idiot as a vote of confidence has no weight and could well result in legal action

For example will this be in open session ?

It reminds me more of the Red Guards in Maoist China than a Parish Council
Parish Councils are full of poorly performing Councillors as is every layer of Government but it’s up to the electorate not their peers to dispose them

Comments

I'm with Jules - and astonished that your MO has suggested such a course of action.  In my experience votes of no confidence create ill feeling/unrest and are utterly pointless.

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Agreed.  Either a very foolish MO or a misinterpretation of their intent.

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Echo Jules comment.. 100%. .

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Jules, why do you say ‘could well result in legal actionI’. My MO is not an idiot, but says that as she cannot consider this councillor’s behaviour as a code of conduct matter, she doesn’t condone their behaviour and suggests my only course of action would be to call for a VONC in them in their role.

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Before I joined our Council there was a vote of no confidence in the Chair. This was after he was arrested by the police for driving under the influence of drugs. The vote was a 50/50 split. The Chair still had the casting vote, so the vote of no confidence vote was not passed. He stayed on.

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Jann even if he had lost the vote has no legal basis whatsoever. This is why most conclude VONC at Town/Parish/Community Tier completely utterly pointless.

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Yes I know Progress. It just thought it crazy that the person who no confidence on is being voted on can actually vote themselves.  But that's the law. I also thought he would have had the good grace to stand down.  It's a well known incident that was in the papers.

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At a meeting some of my fellow Councillors demanded that I resigned I ignored them

They then considered a VONC I told them that the electorate picked the Councillors and they should stand against me in my Ward to see who had the residents support, it went no further

If a Councillor hasn’t breached the Code of Conduct then that’s the end of it

There is no provision for a VONC in Standing Orders and in any case nothing would happen if one was held
For a MO to suggest what it basically a kangaroo court is ridiculous
If anyone attempted to hold one against me I’d lodge a complaint under the Code of Conduct

Remember once elected a Councillor only needs to sign the acceptance and turn up for a meeting once every six months having not read the Agenda and unless they breach the Code there’s nothing anyone can do about it
With regard to Jann’s issue as it wasn’t a breach of the Code the only way to replace the Chair is at the Annual meeting where such positions are voted on

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Jann - I trust that your drugged-up Chair declared a non-pecuniary interest in his own confidence vote before taking part?!

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If it was thought that he should, then whoever submitted, proposed and seconded the vote would also need to do similar since they clearly have / had a NPI and were predetermined by virtue  of submitting / proposing the motion.
Coincidence that this line of thought should have come up here - I was just thinking about the issue of whether a person submitting a motion would be predetermined by default.
Anyway - unless the drug user chair of the PC was wearing a PC T-shirt, at a PC meeting discussing PC business, then he was conducting his own personal business (as disagreeable as that might be) and it is no business of his PC nor the MO - unless he received a jail term which is unlikely for personal use.
Mad innit.

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>If anyone attempted to hold one against me I’d lodge a complaint under the Code of Conduct

If the MO has recommended the VONC, on what grounds would you make your complaint?

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Learner for the reasons outlined in the thread
Also show me anywhere in standard Parish Council Standing Orders where there is a provision for a VONC and how you would present this matter at a meeting