- Oct 20, 2022
- 4,974
I refer you to the Assessment Criteria the Council apply to decide whether they have jurisdiction to investigate a breach of the CoC in my previous post.The source is the Code of Conduct. You have cherry-picked a paragraph which deals with acting in the specific role. The previous page states this:
Building on these principles, the following general principles have been developed specifically for the role of Councillor.
In accordance with the public trust placed in me, on all occasions:
“On all occasions” is pretty clear.
- I act with integrity and honesty
- I act lawfully
- I treat all persons fairly and with respect
- I lead by example and act in a way that secures public confidence in the role of Councillor
You are literally incorrect on this. I have a background in Local Government experience for many years both as a candidate in local elections for two different political parties and a background in law. I have also, since moving to Norfolk, been working with the Mayor and other Councillors to apply this CoC for years to a particular Councillor whose behaviour in his private life is unfitting for a public servant - we all know that but have not been able to do anything under the CoC - because ’On all occasions’ refers to when that the individual is acting in their role as a Councillor - ie when carrying out those public duties.
I posted the Assessment Criteria above and part of the first test is to establish whether the Councillor was acting in his official capacity… or, led the public to believe he was - if not, the Council can not proceed with a CoC complaint and they are quite strict on this.
The primary source is not the Code of Conduct that all Councils must adopt but the Localism Act 2011 which does NOT legislate over the private lives of citizens - I think you are conflating the role/work carried out by a Councillor with someone who is a Councillor per se - it is not cherry picking’ to say the Code of Conduct applies to only the normal course of duties of a councillor or where the public is led to believe he/she was acting in his capacity as a Councillor - it is the fundamental rationale of the Law.
It is not for example, the role of a Councillor to go shopping for his wife in the supermarket after his Council meetings, nor is it his role to go to watch Brighton play football (unless he is going in an official capacity ), nor is it the role of a Councillor to cut his back lawn on a Sunday morning - what ever he or she does on those occasions is subject to any laws that you or I live by.
So no, “occassions’ refers to all occassions where the Councilor is acting in his role as Councillor not on all occasions of his life in general.
Hope that makes sense.On all occasions” is pretty clear.
(If you can provide an example however, where a Councillor has been sanctioned for a breach of the Code of Conduct when they were acting in a private life capacity, of course that will further your argument but I think you will be hard pushed to find one.)
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