A councillor's resignation letter was read out during a meeting accusing myself of bullying. Do I have any recourse?

Question

These accusations are false and indeed he was the bully and had been 'spoken to' by the Chairman because of his racist and sexist attitudes during meetings. He spoke of bullying by 'a group of councillors' but did not mention us by name. The Chairman says reading out a resignation letter is the usual procedure [ which it isn't] and that the resigning councillor asked for it to be read out. This seems rather unfair but do I  have any recourse please? Or is it best just to get on with the work of the committee and let it ride? Parish councils can be such a power trip for some people, it can be so difficult to rise above these petty issues.

Answer 1

Hi Pheonix,

You're right they can be a power trip for some people - funnily enough, it usually tends to be those that talk the talk but have no idea how to walk!

A Cllr resignation does not by law have to be read aloud. The council could have quite happily have accepted it and simply stated that Cllr X has resigned, it needed no more than that really. That said there's also nothing to stop your Council from reading it out. If you feel that comments have been made about you personally then you can ask for these to not be minuted or of course to issue your own statement via an agenda item.

Hope that helps.

Comments

Thank you very much, sometimes it just helps writing out the question.

Answer 2

Seems like the Chair and the Clerk who would have presumably first received the letter have failed in their duty. What should have happened was that the clerk should have contacted the person resigning to investigate whether they were making a formal complaint to be investigated. If the answer was no then the resignation should have been presented to council without reasons given. It yes then a complaint should have been raised and investigated. There is of course a point that once the resignation was presented the person was no longer a councillor and as such had no right to demand it read out in full. And the final point made by Pheonix is a salient one recognised by many councillors across the land

Comments

Thank you for answering - I know there are policies to cover this but it seems they only apply to protect 'friends' and special ones.

Answer 3

I wouldn't have read out the letter, but even if my Chairman had, I wouldn't be including any details from it in the minutes.  "Chairman read a letter of resignation from Councillor X"  End of story.  It'll be forgotten within days.

One of my fellow Councillors issued a two-page resignation rant, largely aimed at me, and to ensure that it wasn't lost in abbreviated minute-taking, he sent about 50 copies to local individuals, organisations, neighbouring parish councils, district council officers and members, county council officers and members, the local association, ACRE, Fields in Trust, funders...  Oh how we laughed!  I never did manage to clarify whether the Queen, the Prime Minister or the Archbishop of Canterbury received one!!

Comments

That what seems to be missing for PC's these days, a sense of humour and good natured discussion. I blame facebook and twitter

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Thank you for your advise. I think I will rise above and get on with some improvements and work - not sure that I can laugh about it yet  though...... Note to self - develop harder skin

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I’m afraid Rhino skin is needed to be a PCllr Pheonix. The lack of support we as Councillors get means we need the toughened skin in order to move forward.

Remember NO cllr nor the Clerk can remove you from office, so once that’s been digested you’ll find a little more confidence to challenge. There’s also nothing at all wrong with lobbying your fellow Cllrs on points that you are passionate about.

Councils have for too long been more of a club for people to indulge in a pseudo power trip and for parish mates to rule the roost. BUT all of that has its day.
The best thing you can do is be an Ambassador for your council and when vacancies arise campaign for new blood.

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My goodness you have summed up our situation perfectly and to be honest it's great to have such support from this site; Davethe clerk, yourself and mentor man plus others who can support Cllrs. I find getting the Clerk, chair and vice - chair to adhere to the Law, Standing Orders and Policies is nigh on impossible. Many thanks again for your advice and support.