Assessment of Complaint COC150748
Minutes:
A complaint was submitted by Mr Nigel Valentine and Mr Jason Abbott, the Complainants, regarding the conduct of Councillor Terry Couchman, the Subject Member, of Calne Town council.
The Complaint related to the Subject Member’s Facebook posts on the ‘Calne Central’ group page on 17 February 2024. A summary of the main allegations included the Subject Member commenting “go screw yourself" and "its because of tossers like you I'm retiring".
The Complainants
believed the Subject Member to have breached the following
sections of the Code:
1.1 I treat other councillors and members of the public with
respect.
5.1 I do not bring my role or local authority into disrepute.
Preamble
The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the initial tests of the assessment criteria had been met, including that the Subject Member was and remains a member of Calne Town Council, that a copy of the relevant Code of Conduct was provided for the assessment, and that they were acting in their capacity as a Member during the alleged actions.
The Sub-Committee therefore had to decide whether the alleged behaviour would, if proven, amount to a breach of that Code of Conduct. If the Sub-Committee concluded that the alleged behaviour would amount to a breach, then it would have to go on to decide whether it was appropriate under the assessment criteria to refer the matter for investigation or alternative resolution.
In reaching its decision, the Sub-Committee took into account the original complaint and supporting information, the response of the Subject Member, and the report of the Monitoring Officer.
The Sub-Committee also considered the written statement from the Complainants provided at the Assessment Sub-Committee meeting.
Discussion
The Sub-Committee considered the summary of allegations as set out in the report, noting that any allegations relating to previous complaints and/or other elected members other than the Subject Member would not form part of the Sub-Committee’s considerations.
The Complainants believed that the Subject Member had failed to treat them with respect during participation in an online discussion on a Facebook group and in doing so the Subject Member had brought his role and his local authority into disrepute.
The Subject Member contended that his comments had been made in response to abusive, harassing and dishonest comments made by the Complainants on Facebook posts in groups and on pages he managed on social media.
The Subject Member stated that he had ‘responded in kind’ to one of the Complainants, asking him to desist and warning him that he would be reported and blocked. When the behaviour did not stop, he reported the Complainant and blocked him on social media sites he managed.
The Complainants refute the allegations made in the Subject Member’s response to the complaint, stating that they had not made dishonest, abusive, or harassing comments towards the Subject Member on Facebook as alleged.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Facebook conversation threads referred to by the Complainants appeared to have been deleted and were therefore no longer available.
Conclusion
The Sub-Committee noted that the title of the Subject Member’s Facebook account did not refer to his councillor role. However, it was noted that within the Facebook account the Subject Member did describe himself as a “politician” and that the exchange during which the incident took place did relate to the Subject Member’s role as a councillor.
The Sub-Committee agreed that whilst the words used by the Subject Member in the Facebook post could be considered inappropriate, they had been used in the context of a longer running disagreement with the Complainants, which the Sub-Committee considered to provide a level of mitigation.
The Sub-Committee noted that respectful behaviour ran two ways and that in a moment of frustration, during discussion between parties with differing opinions, it was possible to lose sight of what was appropriate.
The Sub-Committee agreed that, if proven, some of the Subject Member’s alleged actions could potentially represent a breach of the relevant Code of Conduct. However, the Sub-Committee agreed that on balance, it was not appropriate under the Local Assessment Criteria to refer the matter for investigation, taking into account the efficient use of public resources, due to the mitigation outlined above.
However, the Sub-Committee wished to advise the Subject Member to consider the language they used in online exchanges more carefully in future to ensure that it was appropriate to his role and in compliance with the Code of Conduct.
The Sub-Committee, therefore, resolved to take no further action in respect of the complaint.
After discussion, it was:
Resolved:
In accordance with the approved arrangements for resolving standards complaints adopted by Council on 9 July 2019, which came into effect on 1 January 2020 and after hearing from the Independent Person, the Assessment Sub-Committee determined to take no further action in respect of the complaint.