Cllr's bullying residents

Question

Hi - first question!

I am part of a volunteer community group that has been running for over a decade and have unfortunately experienced bullying (threats, intimidation, gossip, physical attacks, exclusion etc) from a small group of local residents for a number of years. 18 months ago, a new Town Council was elected where I live, all independents, and three of the new Cllr's immediately said that they refused to work with my community group because they were friends of the people who were bullying me. I found out today that current Cllr's have been spreading malicious lies and gossip about me and my group and Cllr's are using their position as Cllr's and telling other people in the town not to work with us - I found out today that this has been going on since they were elected and they have managed to completely isolate my group through what is essentially slander and defamation of character. The Town Council is actively bullying a resident. I have spoken to a couple of friendlier Cllr's who have confirmed this with me but they are too scared to say anything more for fear of repercussions. The decision to deliberately exclude my community group is not minuted as it was an informal decision taken outside of Council meetings. And I'm not sure where what to do next. Please help me

Answer 1

You need to report the councillors to the Monitoring Officer.

Answer 2

I am sure a lot more complicated and and entwined than has been laid out here. You give no background that might attract the animosity towards yourself or the group in question.You make statements regarding decisions made by council including a decision not recorded to carry out an action against the group outside meeting cannot by any measure be held as a "decision of the council" No such thing as an "informal" decision for a council all decisions  at council are recorded and "formal.

It would be interesting to hear why the group has attracted such actions by councillors and I am sure with all of the information good advice could be forthcoming on these pages but the best advice has already been forthcoming from Mrs Abster

Comments

Sorry - was not clear enough. It is bullying - as to why it happened, I'd probably say a mix of envy, jealousy and a good dollop of personality disorder. I've done the bit where we thought that we were the problem but bullying isn't about what we have done to attract the bullying - the responsibility lies 100% with the bullies. In this case, they have a long, long record of bullying - off the top of my head, I know one person who attempted suicide because of their bullying and 4 people who left the town where I live because of the same group. The Cllr's in question are friends with the bullies and therefore give them oxygen and act on their behalf - it is a very familiar pattern in bullying. I was a Union rep for many years and dealt with bullying a lot. My groups 'crime' is that we stood up to these bullies and said no - a Cllr told me that I would regret saying no to these people because they always get their way.

But, whereas people in our communities don't have a Code of Conduct that they have to adhere to, for example, Cllr's do. And that is what I am seeking to find out about. The answer about contacting the monitoring officer is really useful.

When I say decisions were made outside of council meetings - even before they were elected, some of the new prospective Cllr's told us that, once elected, they would ensure that my community group was isolated in the community. And of course, there is no record of this. Like I said, when I speak to friendlier Cllrs', they confirm that they are not allowed to work with my group and they don't really want to talk about this anymore - they have been bullied and threatened too.

Answer 3

Threats, intimidation and physical attacks are potential criminal matters best referred for police investigation.

Slander and defamation are remedied via civil action which requires a reasonably high degree of evidence of the act and clear definition of the 'harm' (actual / physical / financial / mental) caused.

This is a relatively expensive and quite complicated course of action which requires very specific evidence.
Bullying / exclusion could be contrary to council code of conduct and may be suitable for Monitoring office investigation.

It's all in the detail - you will need very specific diary reference, witness statement and a fairly realistic anticipation that all of the above have a limited chance of success

Comments

Thank you - yes, I've built cases against bullying previously and even the most water tight cases are often dismissed when it comes to legal remedy - it is very frustrating. So, this will be almost impossible to prove - most of it is verbal.

But in terms of Cllr's, we do have a detailed Code of Conduct and it is quite clear that these Cllr's and the Council at large is in breach of this but we need actual evidence and that is difficult. So, we have been told by Cllr's that we have been excluded from all Council activity but intent in exclusion is almost impossible to prove - 'well, we must have just forgot' - end of case. The Code of Conduct has a much lower bar than the legal route and that represents our best option, I think.
There is a culture of bullying in the town where I live, we aren't the only ones of course, and bullying is often the way that people 'make decisions' especially if these people are sociopaths, narcissists or even psychopaths. By the way, it is estimated that 1 in every 100 people have personality disorders and these people are often attracted to perceived positions of power that allow they to act upon their disorder.
One of our options is to keep on, very politely, asking them to work with us, be totally open and friendly, get them to put their objections on the record. But we wrote to the Council 12 months ago and still haven't got a reply. We followed this up 6 months ago and haven't got as reply to that either. So, it is difficult to even engage with them. We have emailed Cllr's and get no reply to our emails.
It's really difficult to work through - half of the town know what is going on and most agree that it is bullying but basically then say 'that's the way it is and there is nothing you can do about it'. It is very frustrating.

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The act of intentionally not engaging would not be a grounds for CoC complaint according to one recent CoC complaint rejection.

A member of public complained about a county Cllr refusing to engage over a planning matter, the complaint was rejected by the MO who stated in Jun 23:
All members are fee to engage with who they wish, or deal with which matters they wish, and in this supporting or objecting or not being involved with the matter.
As a result there is nothing in the law or the Code of Conduct which can compel a member to engage with someone on a matter and whilst the concerns of the Complainant are noted no breach of the Code arises from the complaint.

Cllrs are free to NOT engage when so ever they choose apparently...

I'd be wary of quoting stats to support the assertion that the 'the other person' is the sociopath, narcissist or even psychopath since they may just as readily be as enthusiastically convinced in their cause and see it the other way.  Just saying....