‘Uncivil’ Cambridgeshire councillors breach code of conduct

Conservative opposition leader Steve Count is to be asked to take internal disciplinary action after two of his county councillors were found by a conduct committee hearing to have made “immensely discourteous and uncivil” remarks about Mayor Dr Nik Johnson.

Ironically Cllr Count is chair of the conduct committee of Fenland District Council, but it has only held one meeting (12 others over the past 4 years have been cancelled) since July 2023 which appointed him to the role.

Cambridgeshire County Council determined that Cllr Steve Tierney and Cllr Sam Hoy posted comments on Twitter “that fell below the standard required of members in relation to accuracy and fairness”.

Both councillors have been notified of the findings after a rare meeting of the hearings subcommittee of the county council constitution and ethics committee.

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The hearing was given details of an internal inquiry into the Twitter posts by Cllr Tierney and Cllr Hoy. It met in private on Tuesday, but their findings have now been released.

In the case of Cllr Tierney, the subcommittee “considered the limited range of sanctions available to them, the likely effectiveness of them in the circumstances, including the subject member’s unwillingness to apologise and noted the role of political groups in promoting and managing good member behaviour.

“Consequently, the subcommittee agreed to write to the subject member’s group leader to ask him to consider internal disciplinary action given Councillor Tierney’s failure to comply with paragraph 1 of the code and conduct, which had brought Cambridgeshire County Council into disrepute”

An identical note was added in the case of Cllr Hoy.

To the specifics of each:

1: Cllr Tierney posted comments on ‘X’ about the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor, Dr Nik Johnson, that were “immensely discourteous and uncivil”.

2: The complaint was initially considered by the monitoring officer and the independent person who concluded that this matter warranted referral for investigation.

An investigation was carried out into these allegations by an investigating officer.

3: The subcommittee heard evidence and considered oral and written submissions from the investigating office and written submissions from the Cllr Tierney.

4: The view of the independent person was that the first two posts set out in the report demonstrate a link to Cllr Tierney’s role as a councillor and to local authority business.

“She also confirmed that the posts would amount to a breach of paragraph 1 of the council’s code of conduct,” says the report.

“Given that the county council is a constituent authority of the Combined Authority and the close relationship that exists between the two authorities, it was also the view of the independent person that the posts complained of could be said to bring the county council into disrepute and so amount to a breach of the code.

5:  On the basis of the established facts, the subcommittee found Cllr Tierney was acting in his official capacity as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council in relation to the first two posts. These “fell below the standard required of members in relation to accuracy and fairness”.

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6: Cllr Tierney breached the code of conduct “when publicly implying the Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority was a predator and a bully.

“And when sharing a post from another councillor which suggested that the Mayor had stalked a female employee.

“When considering the role of members in being an important interface between their authorities and communities and how the public should be able to rely on members posting accurate information, that there was a need for members to be able to comment on contentious matters but there was a balance between fair comment and personal insults,” says the subcommittee findings.

7:  The subcommittee considered the limited range of sanctions available to them, the likely effectiveness of them in the circumstances, including Cllr Tierney’s “unwillingness to apologise and noted the role of political groups in promoting and managing good member behaviour”.

In the case of Cllr Hoy, it provided a similar narrative but added that it was “also the view of the independent person that the comments made may well have a direct impact on the reputation of the county council”.

1: The subcommittee noted that Cllr Hoy did not dispute her four posts on X.

2: She felt that it “was part of her role as an elected member to raise these issues”.

3: The subcommittee ruled that Cllr Hoy was acting in her official capacity as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council.

4: It also found that “after giving careful consideration to the content of the posts and being mindful that the findings of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority did not relate to any behaviour of this type by the Mayor, that consequently the comments fell below the standard required of members in relation to accuracy and fairness”.

5: Cllr Hoy failed to comply with the council’s code of conduct which covers failure to treat other councillors and members of the public with respect.

The subcommittee found that Cllr Hoy breached the code “when publicly stating the Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority had stalked a female employee”.

The committee accepted “that there was a need for members to be able to comment on contentious matters but there was a balance between fair comment and personal insults.

In the light of this and because of elected members position of trust, the subcommittee ruled that the county council “had been brought into disrepute as a result of the four posts on X”.

It added; “The sub-committee considered the limited range of sanctions available to them, the likely effectiveness of them in the circumstances, including Cllr Hoy’s unwillingness to apologise and noted the role of political groups in promoting and managing good member behaviour.

“Consequently, the sub-committee agreed to write to Tory group leader Cllr Steve Count to “ask him to consider internal disciplinary action given Councillor Hoy’s failure to comply with paragraph 1 of the council’s code and conduct, which had brought Cambridgeshire County Council into disrepute”.

The subcommittee consisted of Councillor Sebastian Kindersley (Chair) Councillor David Ambrose Smith, Councillor Alex Bulat.

Also present were Emma Duncan (Monitoring Officer) Alex Oram (Investigating Officer) Michelle Rowe (Democratic Services Manager) Nicholas Mills (Deputy Democratic Services Manager) Sophie Rankine (Democratic Services Assistant and Clerk)