Minutes:
The Chairman introduced members of the sub-committee to those were who present at the meeting to hear the second Code of Conduct hearing on the agenda.
Cllr Bill Trite had made a declaration of interest at the start of the meeting as he was a member of the Conservative Group as was Cllr C Lugg.
With the agreement of those present the Chairman, Cllr Matt Hall, advised that the meeting would be held in open business.
The Investigating Officer, Mr R Greene, presented his report. A Code of Conduct complaint had been received from Cllr Cathy Lugg, Ferndown Town Councillor against Cllr Paul Hanson Graham, Ferndown Town Councillor in respect of bullying, offensive behaviour and failure to show respect.
The Investigating Officer advised the sub-committee that the agenda pack contained a second statement by Cllr C Lugg that had been redacted. The statement was in response to the draft report and referred to matters that had not be raised before. The Investigating Officer did not consider it reasonable to include this information and took the decision to redact the statement. It was for members of the sub-committee to decide how they wished to deal with this statement.
The Deputy Monitoring Officer had seen the unredacted version and advised the sub-committee that it made reference to the number of complaints, hearsay evidence and further witnesses. She agreed with the Investigating Officer that the redacted statement was sufficient for the hearing to proceed, however copies of the unredacted statement were available for the sub-committee if they wished to see it. The members of the sub-committee all agreed that they were content to continue with the redacted statement.
The Investigating Officer continued his presentation and reported that his finding had been a non-breach of the Code of Conduct. He had received a large amount of documentation from Cllr C Lugg and a copy of the Ferndown Town Council Code of Conduct was included in the agenda bundle. He further advised that this was a long-standing complaint about the same issues which was seeking a remedy that this sub-committee could not provide. The Investigating Officer had found no reference in any of the documentation that the Chairman of a Ferndown Town Council committee had stopped the councillor in question for disorderly conduct or the councillor had been asked to apologise. He referred to the Standing Orders for the Town Council which did not appear to have been implemented in a firm way. The Investigating Officer had listened to a meeting of Ferndown Town Council dated 27 January 2020 and the transcript was included as a supplemental to the bundle.
As part of his investigation the Investigating Officer had received 3 or 4 emails and a statement from Cllr Willis for Cllr C Lugg and a response from Cllr Baxter for Cllr Hanson Graham.
The Investigating Officer had found it difficult to reconcile the alleged behaviours outlined in the documents without hard facts. There was no evidence from the Town Clerk of Cllr C Lugg having left a meeting in an upset state or having refused to attend a meeting.
In response to the Chairman, Cllr C Lugg explained that although the Investigating Officers report referred to 4 or 5 complaints involving the same councillors her unredacted statement clarified that she had only been involved in 1 earlier complaint.
Cllr C Lugg asked the Investigating Officer if he accepted that it was very difficult to prove bullying as very often it was a look or muttering. She noted that all involved in the investigation and sub-committee were male and suggested that the Investigating Officer was looking at it from a male point of view, giving no weight to the view of the female finance officer who had been present at the meeting or Cllr Willis’ statement. In response the Investigating Officer stated that his report was based on the documents and the evidence that he had received and he had looked at the matter as objectively as possible.
Cllr C Lugg wished to refer the sub-committee to a word that she had been called by Cllr Hanson Graham, as a member of the public had complained to the Mayor about the use of the word. The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised the sub-committee that this would be hearsay as it was not known who the member of the public was who heard the word and so it was not possible to verify the use.
In response to the Investigating Officer’s report Cllr Hanson Graham stated that having debate and having different views was part of democracy and that he was a robust and straightforward person.
Cllr John Baxter, Ferndown Town Council, confirmed that he had no questions for the Investigating officer.
The Independent Person, Mr Rob Nichols confirmed that he had no questions for the Investigating Officer.
Cllr Bill Trite asked how many councillors had failed to respond to the Investigating Officer as part of the investigation. The Investigating Officer confirmed that he had written to all councillors, apart from those who had given statements, and only 2 out of the 6 had responded.
Cllr R Biggs had no questions for the Investigating Officer.
The Chairman, Cllr M Hall highlighted that the tape transcript provided as part of the documentation was unhelpful as you could not tell who said what, he asked if this had been raised with Ferndown Town Council as it was difficult to judge the situation without the evidence. Ferndown Town Council had been advised of these difficulties. The Investigating Officer confirmed that Ferndown Town Councillors had not received Code of Conduct training since 2019.
The Chairman invited Cllr Hanson Graham to respond to the complaint.
Cllr Hanson Graham read his statement from the agenda bundle and rejected the allegations made against him. He stated the complaint was a politically motivated personal attack by Cllr C Lugg and another attempt by Cllr C Lugg to intimidate him. Cllr C Lugg’s complaint referred to a meeting that he had attended but it was one of many complaints. He alleged that Cllr C Lugg had punched him and targeted him with verbal and physical abuse. He thought it was obvious that Cllr C Lugg saw him and his political party as a threat. He stated that the meeting did get heated but that was not against the Code of Conduct and that he would abide by any decision of the Chairman as required. He felt that the complaint against him was trivial and vexatious and that having disagreements with another councillor was not against the Code of Conduct.
Cllr Hanson Graham stated that he had experienced aggression against him since he had joined Ferndown Town Council and that the hostility had given him depression and anxiety. He said that the Conservative Group tended to dominate at the town council and that he was entitled to ask questions about the council’s finances and not be shouted down. He denied having bullied, intimidated or been rude. In conclusion Cllr Hanson Graham felt that he was the victim and that the allegations against him were politically motivated.
The Chairman invited Cllr Baxter to speak as a witness for Cllr Hanson Graham.
Cllr Baxter read out a statement that had not been provided as part of the investigation. He explained that in his view the events leading up to the complaint stemmed from low level animosity going back a number of years prior to Cllr Hanson Graham joining the council. Traditionally town councils were non-political but this was not the case at Ferndown Town Council and Cllr Hanson Graham tended to be the most vocal of the non-Conservative members. The Chairman asked for Cllr Baxter to make comments only in respect of the subject matter of the complaint. Cllr Baxter went on to explain that to his knowledge Cllr Hanson Graham had never bullied anyone. He advised the sub-committee that he had not been present at the committee meeting in question but he understood that the comments made by Cllr Hanson Graham were trivial and that he couldn’t believe that this had led to a complaint.
In response Cllr C Lugg made the point that all of the information verbally reported by Cllr Baxter had not been included within the agenda bundle, yet the sub-committee had chosen to disregard her supplementary information. The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that she would bring the sub-committee’s attention to the fact that Cllr Baxter’s statement was not included within the agenda bundle.
In summing up his report the Investigating Officer stated that there was insufficient evidence to prove that bullying and intimidation had taken place and that whether or not someone agreed or disagreed with your views was not a Code of Conduct complaint.
The Independent Person confirmed that he had nothing to add.
At 12.18pm members of the sub-committee withdrew to consider their decision.
On returning to the meeting the Chairman read out the decision of the sub-committee:
Decision
Having heard all of the views today and having read all of the papers, and having taken account of the view if the Independent Person, the committee has made a decision to agree with the recommendation of the Investigating Officer and find that there has been no breach of the Code, as there was insufficient evidence to show a breach.
The sub-committee did not disbelieve the concerns raised by Cllr Lugg and the content of the complaint has given the sub-committee wider concerns regarding Ferndown Town Council which will be raised with the Monitoring Officer.
In accordance with our complaints process there is no right of appeal.