Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements for the conduct of the meeting.

The Chairman reminded Members of the action to be taken in an emergency.

(if any) – receive.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.  Members may still disclose an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

Attached for information.

The code of conduct was noted by Members.

To consider whether the public should now be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public were present during those items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972; and, if it is decided to exclude the public on those grounds, the Committee to resolve accordingly on the motion of the Chairman.

The Committee resolved to exclude the public from the meeting during discussion of the following item on the grounds that if members of the public were present it was likely that, given the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 which could reveal information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the

authority holding that information) and it was not in the public interest to publish this information.

To consider the reports of the Monitoring Officer (attached – not available to press or public).  

The Panel had met to consider two alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct. The first case was an allegation that Councillor X had breached the Members’ Code of Conduct which had been received from Councillor Y. The allegation related to Councillor X allegedly physically and verbally having assaulted Councillor Y at a break in a Full Council meeting on 25 September 2019.  Councillor Y reported the matter to the Metropolitan Police on 27 September 2019 who investigated the complaint and found in December 2019 “insufficient and conflicting evidence”. No further action was therefore taken. The Monitoring Officer presented the report to the Panel and pointed to the fact there was no CCTV evidence available on the night. The Councillor interviews conducted by the police pointed to inconsistent accounts of events in terms of both the physical and verbal interaction between Councillor X and Councillor Y on the day of the Full Council meeting.

The Panel had concluded that it was in agreement with the investigating officer’s opinion that there was no breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct and there was no justification for pursuing the allegation or escalating it to a standards hearing. The Panel noted that there was evidence of physical contact between the two Councillors but whether this was intended or simply a reaction was not evidenced.

In the circumstances, the Panel agreed that the allegation be dismissed and that no further action be taken.

The Panel then considered the second case which was an allegation concerning the actions on social media platforms and in a newspaper of Councillor Y following a formal Code of Conduct complaint made by Councillor X. Councillor X alleged that the actions by Councillor Y such as the public Twitter message posted on Councillor Y’s account on 26 September 2019, an article containing commentary from Councillor Y in the Havering Daily newspaper as well as an entry on their public Facebook page on 26 September 2019 provided details of the alleged assault which Councillor X felt was an attempt to discredit them and their character.

The Panel accepted the report of the monitoring officer which stated that Councillor Y had a legal right to voice their opinions and the Panel accepted the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 2018 and the Panel therefore did not feel that the complaint by Councillor X merited further investigation or escalation to a standards hearing. 

In the circumstances the Panel agreed that the allegation be dismissed and that no further action be taken.