Minutes:
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report providing details of an investigation into a complaint against Councillor Corrall and of the Standards process so far leading to a Hearing Sub-Committee to take place.
The Investigator, Mr Alex Oram, introduced the report, setting out the nature of the complaint against Councillor Corrall and the details of his investigations together with a view on whether the alleged conduct took place. It was noted at section 5 of the report that Councillor Corrall could not fully recollect the incident but he did not dispute it in any way and the Investigator found the complainant to be a very convincing witness who had made a contemporaneous note of the incident.
The report set out whether the conduct amounted to a breach of the code of conduct and the Investigator explained how he had reached his conclusions, establishing that Councillor Corrall did act as alleged and within his councillor capacity and as such the code of conduct had been breached.
The Sub-Committee were invited to raise any questions on the facts outlined in the report during which it was clarified that in terms of Councillor Y’s recollection of events, initially Councillor Y had wanted no involvement in the process however when the allegation was put he had said it was largely in line with what he recalled and any evidence he had put forward supported the complainant.
Michael Edwards, the Independent Person was invited to give his advice in relation to the facts of the case. The Sub-Committee noted that there were 3 witnesses to the incident and the account by the complainant was generally accepted by all concerned. Councillor Corrall had disputed one aspect i.e. whether he used the word “Brown” or “Black”, the complainant had made a note of the word “Brown” being used and the Investigator had confirmed seeing the complainant’s notes. The Investigator also confirmed he had not spent too much time on that difference of opinion as the use of either word was wholly inappropriate and did not change the severity of the allegation.
Michael Edwards, the Independent Person endorsed the disappointment in Councillor Y’s lack of engagement with the investigation process.
The Chair then read Councillor Corrall’s open letter to the Sub-Committee.
In reaching their decision the Sub-Committee agreed they should deliberate in private on the basis that this was in the public interest and as such outweighed the public interest of their deliberation taking place with parties, press or public present.
3.31pm The Skype link with Mr Oram was ended and press then withdrew from the meeting.
IN PRIVATE SESSION
Michael Edwards, Independent Person advised the Sub-Committee that from the outset he was of the view this was an extremely serious matter and he agreed with the findings in the report of the Investigator that 3 areas of the code of conduct had been breached namely:
· Paragraph 3(a) of the Council’s Code of Conduct by acting in a disrespectful manner,
· Paragraph 3(e) of the Council’s Code of Conduct by failing to uphold and promote the Authority’s discharge of its Equality obligations,
· Paragraph 3(i) of the Council’s Code of Conduct by conducting himself in a manner which was likely to bring the Authority into disrepute.
Prior to considering their findings the Monitoring Officer advised the Sub-Committee of the options available to them in making a decision.
The Monitoring Officer suggested that by reason of the above breaches of the code of conduct paragraph 3(f) of the Council’s Code of Conduct was also breached by failing to uphold and promote these principles by leadership and by example, and act in a way that secures and preserves public confidence.
The Monitoring Officer suggested sanctions for the Sub-Committee to consider:
· That Councillor Corrall apologise directly to Councillor Z and Mr X in writing within 14 days for the offence caused
· That the Monitoring Officer publishes the Decision Notice of the Hearing Panel and a suitable redacted version of the Investigator’s report on the Council’s website
· That the Labour Group and/or Elected Mayor withdraw Councillor Corrall’s appointment to any outside bodies on which he serves as a representative of the Council.
The Sub-Committee then gave full and detailed consideration to the points made.
4.02pm RESUMED IN PUBLIC SESSION
The Chair announced that the Sub-Committee had taken into consideration the written evidence, representations from the investigator and witness evidence and had made a unanimous decision.
RESOLVED:
1.To recommend to the Standards Committee the following:
a) That Councillor Corrall has breached paragraph 3(a) of the City Council’s Code of Conduct by acting in a disrespectful manner. He knew, or ought to have known, that his comments went beyond allowable criticism and crossed the line into personal abuse. The suggestion that any of the councillors appointed to the Police and Crime Panel were chosen because of the colour of their skin is disrespectful both toward the councillors themselves and those who appointed them. It suggests that they were undeserving of their position and implies tokenism;
b) That Councillor Corrall has, for the same reasons, breached paragraph 3(e) of the Code of Conduct by failing to uphold and promote the Authority’s discharge of its Equality obligations;
c) That Councillor Corrall has breached paragraph 3(i) of the Code of Conduct by conducting himself in a manner which is likely to bring the Authority into disrepute. His offensive remarks seriously risked damaging the reputation of this authority. The City Council places great weight on upholding and discharging its equality obligations and Councillor Corrall’s comments can only have reduced the public’s confidence in the City Council’s ability to achieve this;
d) That Councillor Corrall has, for all of the above reasons, breached paragraph 3(f) of the Code of Conduct by failing to uphold and promote these principles by leadership and by example, and act in a way that secures and preserves public confidence.
2.To recommend to the Standards Committee the following sanctions:
a) That Councillor Corrall apologise directly to Councillor Z and Mr X in writing within 14 days of today for the offence caused,
b) That the Monitoring Officer publishes the Decision Notice of the Hearing Panel, and a suitably redacted version of the Investigator’s Report, on the Council’s website,
c) That the Labour Group and/or the Elected Mayor withdraws Councillor Corrall’s appointment to any outside bodies on which he serves as a representative of the Council.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 4.07pm.