81/22
It was noted that
one Motion on Notice had been received in accordance with Council
Procedure Rules.
a. From
Cllr Chown and Cllr Hodgson
“Debate Not Hate motion
Intimidation and abuse, in person or otherwise,
undermines democracy.
Therefore, this council resolves to:
• Uphold
exemplary standards of political debate in all it does
• Challenge
the normalisation of abuse by promoting respectful, courteous, and
constructive debate amongst our residents
• Sign up to
the LGA’s ‘Debate Not Hate’ campaign which aims
to raise public awareness of the role of councillors in local
communities, encourage healthy debate, and improve the response to
and support those in public life facing abuse and
intimidation.
• Write to
the local Members of Parliament to ask them to support the
campaign
• Write to
the Government to ask them to work with the LGA to develop and
implement a plan to address abuse and intimidation of
politicians
• Regularly
review the support available to councillors in relation to abuse
and intimidation and councillor safety
• Take a
zero-tolerance approach to abuse of councillors and
officers
During debate, there
was widespread support expressed for the Motion and the proposer
and seconder were thanked for bringing it forward to this
Meeting.
To further supplement
the Motion, an amendment was PROPOSED, SECONDED that read as follows:
‘Write to the Government to ask them to work with the LGA
to develop and implement a plan to address abuse and intimidation
of politicians including the restoration of
the power to suspend Councillors at all levels of Local Government
whose behaviour is deemed under the Standards Complaints Procedure
to warrant this sanction.’
In support of the
amendment, the proposer felt that it was critical to be able to
impose meaningful sanctions in the event of any Councillor
breaching their Code of Conduct. In
agreement with this view, the proposer and seconder of the motion
were willing to accept the amendment and it was therefore included
as part of the substantive motion.
It was
then:
RESOLVED
That this Council RESOLVES to:
(a)
Uphold exemplary standards of political debate in
all it does;
(b)
Challenge the normalisation of abuse by promoting
respectful, courteous, and constructive debate amongst our
residents;
(c)
Sign up to the LGA’s ‘Debate Not
Hate’ campaign which aims to raise public awareness of the
role of councillors in local communities, encourage healthy debate,
and improve the response to and support those in public life facing
abuse and intimidation;
(d)
Write to the local Members of Parliament to ask them
to support the campaign;
(e)
Write to the Government to ask them to work with the
LGA to develop and implement a plan to address abuse and
intimidation of politicians. In so
doing, to write to the Government to ask them to
work with the LGA to develop and implement a plan to address abuse
and intimidation of politicians including the
restoration of the power to suspend Councillors at all levels of
Local Government whose behaviour is deemed ... view
the full minutes text for item 81/22