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Agenda item

Q&A with the Leader of the Council on Ethical Standards

Minutes:

5.1      As part of its efforts to raise the profile of standards the Committee last year agreed to invite the Leader of the Council to attend one of its meetings each year to answer questions on ethical standards.

 

5.2      The chairman welcomed Councillor Rachael Robathan, Leader of the Council, to the meeting.  She then invited committee members to submit questions to Councillor Robathan on a range of ethical standards matters to which she replied as follows:

 

1.              Q. Did she accept that issues of bullying are on the increase but that members may be unconscious of how their behaviour is perceived. Therefore, is additional guidance for members required?

 

A.    Councillor Robathan stated that bullying can be inadvertent but also intentional. It needed to be dealt with properly and there should be training for members on what constitutes bullying. She also stated that as society has changed words that may have once been acceptable are not so now and care is required to avoid offending people. She referred to the fact that training on issues such as bullying, diversity and unconscious bias were covered as part of the recent mandatory Members’ Code of Conduct training but she agreed that more training for members on these issues would be beneficial.

 

2.              Q. The Council has previously adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Anti-Semitism. Did she consider that the council should also adopt the All Party Group of British Muslims definition of Islamophobia as some have requested?

 

A.    Councillor Robathan commented that the council has made a strong statement against any form of prejudice on a number of occasions therefore she did not believe there is a need to adopt every definition of hate crime.

 

3.              Q. The Council has put in place measures to increase the representation of women and those from BME groups at senior management level including requiring diverse representation on officer appointment panels for such posts. The leader was asked whether similar measures are required to increase the diversity of elected representatives in the city?

 

A.    The Leader of the Council stated that whilst it is important for elected representatives to mirror the wider Westminster community it is difficult to be prescriptive. She reflected that being a councillor is a big commitment and not everyone wants or is able to do this. However, she did support encouraging people to become councillors but believed that it is a matter for the political parties to address rather than the council.  However, she did think that the Council could better promote the work that Councillors undertake.

 

4.              Q.  Should the council develop a strategy for member development and     how can attendance at training sessions be improved upon?

 

A.    Councillor Robathan stated that the member development programme for the coming year is being developed. She noted the committee’s comments regarding the need for more advanced notice of training events and more visible and better information on the relevance of specific training and undertook to address this as part of the plan for the programme’s delivery.

 

5.              Q. The Leader of the Council was asked about her vision for standards for elected representatives and whether there are any issues she thinks the committee might wish to focus on in the coming year.

 

A.    The Leader stated that Westminster’s councillors need to lead by example and display the highest level of ethical standards by being a model of tolerance to people from all backgrounds while being open and answerable. She considered that the manner in which councillors converse with one another and the language which they use is important. She reflected that members should be able to engage in robust political debate without insulting one another. She asked the committee to consider whether there is merit in developing a guide on the use of language during debates at council meetings which would assist the Lord Mayor to rule on inappropriate conduct.

 

5.3      The chairman thanked the Leader of the Council for attending the meeting. Councillor Robathan thanked the committee for their work which she considered to be important.