Hard of hearing councillor that records meetings being reported to monitoring officer

Question

Hello
We have an issue at our parish council that our chairman is going to discuss with the monitoring officer which doesn’t somehow sit right with me

The issue is that for sometime now a fellow councillor has been audio recording public council meetings for well over 2years with no problems recently when questioned about this, the counsellor replied, I only do it for my own personal reference because I’m slightly hard of hearing (one ear) and don’t always catch everything that is said at a meeting.

The chairman gave out a statement at the very last meeting about recording of meetings (the info of which wasn’t the same as stated in openness and transparency guidelines but that’s any questions) and the code of conduct dos and don’ts etc and then promptly said “I do find the reasons given for recording the meetings is concerning and unacceptable and that if a counsellor can’t hear how can you vote and participate in any meetings and I will be discussing this issue further with the monitoring officer at the local Borough Council and will notify you of any further updates in the future this matter is not open for any further discussion, the statement given seemed to be directed straight at that councillor.

I feel that the counsellor concerned hasn’t done anything wrong and I know of at least two other counsellor’s that are heard of hearing in our council why does the chairman need to discuss with a monitoring officer just because the councillor is hard of hearing and doesn’t hear every single solitary word spoken? I got the distinct impression that he was really saying that he’s thoughts were  that Parish Councillor’s shouldn’t even be on a council if they can’t hear everything, the councillor is now very upset in many ways and is worried about the outcome.

Has he been publicly humiliated, Is he being bullied and discriminated against etc by the chairman?
What are you thoughts please?
Simon

Answer 1

Apart from the obvious lack of awareness of the Equalities Act on the part of your chair - there is no reason why anyone should even give any reason for recording.  Just do it if you want to.

If the chair continues this line of approach then they are opening your council up to a discrimination claim, the costs of installing a mag-loop hearing system and a recordable non-compliance at the AGAR.  Your chair sounds like a dream!

Best way to address this would be for ALL councillors to audio / video record the next meeting since there is absolutely nothing the chair can do to prevent it.

Comments

Thanks for replying unfortunately all councillors recording would be impossible, over half of them including clerk and chair are very close friends with each other (the inner Circle)

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All those that aren’t “inner circle” - all are created equal BTW - should audio / video.
What’s the chair gonna do? Nothing apart from look a bit of a clown.
What’s the borough council gonna do - nothing they can do.

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In this scenario I would sit on your hands because the MO will laugh this out of court.

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But that is passive acquiescence - what's the betting the chair will brush it off?

Every Cllr is under a duty through the Nolan Principles to report bullying and inappropriate behaviour.  From what you have written this could be considered as inappropriate AND a breach of the Equalities Act - there has to be reasonable provision for all.

I don't necessarily subscribe to the heavily topical civility and respect project because I (personally) view it as just another tool for employees to avoid valid negative performance assessment and as a vehicle for the ridiculous threats of Ind Trib which seem to petrify all Cllrs and prevent the necessary remedial training when staff are sub optimal.

Answer 2

Been there and got the badge.

At first I was told the they’d received legal advice that Councillors were specifically exempt from recording meetings in other words everyone on the planet can but not Councillors

I was then reported to the Police and the ICO for recording meetings, at first the ICO ruled against me
Unfortunately the ICO then realised they’d been misled and lied to and reversed their decision

No ifs not buts any Councillor can record an meeting unless it moves into confidential session and you have no obligation to tell anyone you are doing it
If I were the Councillor concerned I’d lodge a complaint against the Chair as they have no right to challenge a Councillors right to record
That’s on top of any complaint about discrimination

Comments

Thanks for comments so far, however because the chair has said that he’s basically reporting the matter to monitoring officer

My thoughts are to wait a little while to see what happens but if nothing happens before the meeting in January then do something against him. This matter is eating away at the councillor concerned he is really worried

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I know it’s been discussed previously with fairly strongly held views either way, but I would still maintain that a Cllr can even record a closed session.
I don’t believe there  is mechanism a mechanism to prevent it.
You can listen, you can take notes, if you had such a memory you could even recall every single word - if you haven’t there is no reason not to record proceedings.
Sharing of the recording of a closed session would be a breach (unless mitigated by greater public interest) but making it isn’t.

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Would sharing the recording of a private session be a breach ,if the private session was basically harassment of a councillor by the Clerk and Chairperson  ,with the Chair threatening to resign if the Cllr didn't stop nit picking ( challenging or questioning is not allowed ) ? The Cllr has since spoken to the police about this (not in great detail or admitted to recording the session ) who advise as this was done in an open forum ,  only bordering on harassment . Your thoughts would be welcomed.

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To be honest I don't know what would happen to a Councillor who recorded a closed session but if it was an attack against that particular councillor then I think the ends justify the means.

Answer 3

Rather than get het up about the recording, surely what should be the focus here is how you can make it possible for the hard of hearing councillor to take part in meetings?  We've installed a hearing loop (not cheap I know) when a local resident who likes to attend meetings complained she couldn't hear proceedings and in the past I've had experience of producing papers with extra large print for a visually impaired councillor.

Comments

Yes you’re right of course, however the councillor like myself always feel like we’re outsiders and frowned upon (not a members of the inner circle and never will be lol) disliked basically
Getting a loop I don’t think will happen anytime soon
The issues here really are not so much the recording although it does play apart but the reporting to the monitoring officer and the councillors partial hearing problem for which the chair seems to want to make a big issue of ie he’s hung up on it
I’ve tried to reassure the councillor concerned that he’s done nothing wrong but that’s not stop him worrying about what the outcome will be it his head is it

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Parish Councils can only thrive when there are regular elections other than that as you say they become a clique who resent outsiders such as new Councillors interfering

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The chair - in the circumstances described - is an idiot.
The behaviour - as described - is illegal.
The aggrieved Cllr should make it known that he REQUIRES a MAG loop and the PC will have to provide it.
For the OP - Don’t ever think of yourself as an outsider! Learn the rules, procedures, protocols and legislation and change the boundaries of your environment. All Cllrs are equal - even (I like to think especially) the chair.
Don’t give up, don’t give in!