The pledge

By signing the Pledge, your council is agreeing that the council will treat councillors, clerks, employees, members of the public, and representatives of partner organisations and volunteers with civility and respect in their roles and that it:

• Has put in place a training programme for councillors and staff
• Has signed up to the Code of Conduct for councillors
• Has good governance arrangements in place including staff contracts and a dignity at work policy
• Will seek professional help at the early stages should civility and respect issues arise
• Will commit to calling out bullying and harassment if and when it happens
• Will continue to learn from best practices in the sector and aspire to be a role model/champion council through for example the local Local Council Award Scheme
• Supports the continued lobbying for change in legislation to support the Civility and Respect Pledge including sanctions for elected members where appropriate

Take the pledge

See who has taken the pledge

Resources

Download the Civility and Respect Pledge flyer

Download the council meeting agenda example

Watch the #TakeThePledge video

Training

A critical step in creating a safe and inclusive environment for local councils is making all councillors, clerks and council staff aware of the issues, what is — and what is not — acceptable. Knowing how to recognise and address bullying, harassment, discrimination, and inclusion is an essential step in prevention.

Training ensures that councils demonstrate that they do not tolerate these types of behaviour and provide the tools to intervene immediately, consistently, equitably, and appropriately when bullying occurs.

Governance

Bullying can have a detrimental effect on officers and is corrosive to leadership. It could lead to decision-making, not in the public interest and a failure of standards and governance. 

Good governance is one of the building blocks of anti-bullying and harassment and is fundamental to ensuring an effective and well-functioning democracy at all levels. 

Intervention

Sometimes relations in a council deteriorate beyond the ability to be repaired by the implementation of, and adherence to, good governance and comprehensive training of staff and councillors. 

The council may have recognised that it cannot restore effective leadership, functionality and civility without support.

The project team is working on some strategies to support struggling councils.

Legislative

The Committee on Standards in Public Life undertook a review of Local Government Ethical Standards and, in January 2019, produced a report comprising 26 recommendations for legislative changes. The resulting recommendations included:

• The ability for the principal authority to impose sanctions on a parish councillor following a review.
• The ability for a local authority to suspend councillors.
• Mandatory training for clerks. 

The lobbying of the government to implement these, and other recommendations, is ongoing within NALC and SLCC. The project will highlight the continuous action taken to progress these and other legislative changes. 

Collaboration

The project team is working closely with the Local Government Association (LGA), Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and other associations navigating their way through similar sector issues.  

Enabling

The enabling workstream makes bullying and harassment information and support available to clerks and councils.

Bullying and harassment statement

Local councils may wish to add a statement poster to their websites stating that bullying, harassment and intimidation will not be tolerated.

Download poster

Code of Conduct

One of the critical issues already identified by the project is that the Code of Conduct produced by the Local Government Association (LGA) in 2021 has not been widely adopted. The Civility and Respect project has endorsed the LGA model Code of Conduct and the guidance notes aimed to help understanding and consistency of approach towards the code.

The code is a template for councils to adopt in whole and or with amendments to take into account local circumstances.

The code and guidance have been designed to protect our democratic role, encourage good conduct, and safeguard the public’s trust and confidence in the role of councillor in local government.

While it sets out the minimum standards of behaviour expected, together with the guidance, it is designed to encourage councillors to model the high standards expected, to be mutually respectful even if they have personal or political differences, to provide a personal check and balance, and to set out the type of conduct that could lead to complaints being made of behaviour falling below the standards expected of councillors and in breach of the code. It is also to protect councillors, the public, local authority officers and the reputation of the local government.

Download the Model Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct supporting guidance

The Civility and Respect Project team has worked with Hoey Ainscough Associates Ltd to revise the Local Government Association (LGA) Code of Conduct guidance to reflect the needs of our sector better. The revised guidance has been approved for use by NALC and the SLCC and endorsed by LGA.

The LGA produced a revised code of conduct in December 2020, supported by a guidance document they first circulated in July 2021. The supporting guidance was a beneficial document but not tailored to the nuances of local (parish and town) councils. With the support of the LGA, the project team has revised the guidance to precisely reflect the needs of and situations relevant to local councils.

The guidance covers the following:

• The general principles of councillor conduct
• Application of the model councillors' code of conduct

General obligations under the code include:

• Respect
• Bullying
• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Impartiality
• Misuse of position

Protecting the reputation of the council, including:

• Declarations of interest
• Bias and pre-determination

Download the supporting guidance

Civility and Respect Continuum

The Civility and Respect Continuum illustrates how issues escalate over time. Our research has indicated that councils experiencing poor conduct or vexatious demands/complaints often experience problems repeatedly over a significant period of time. The longer an issue is permitted to continue, unaddressed, the more complex, time-consuming, and expensive the resolution becomes. This can eventually result in damage to the reputation of the council and health issues for those involved eventually ending with multiple resignations of both staff and councillors. Councils that have up-to-date policies and procedures, well-trained councillors and employees can often manage and mediate issues with or without advice and support from county associations and/or monitoring officers. Where councils become overwhelmed or fail to draw upon the resources available, matters can escalate and come under significant strain and pressure. In these situations, the solutions are often beyond the existing support offered and invariably best resolved by third parties, a costly and time-consuming challenge.

The project is identifying solutions to support councillors, officers, councils, and county officers at every stage of the civility continuum, however, whilst governance and training solutions may help with minor and moderate issues, the options for support at the major end of the scale become more limited. Support from monitoring officers and county associations may provide resolution in some instances but often issues have become too complex to resolve without costly interventions from specialist third parties. Every attempt should be made to prevent escalation by addressing potential behavioural issues as soon as they arise, calling out bullying and harassment at the earliest opportunity and standing up for civil and respectful behaviour. 

If the issues within a council have escalated to critical, then the options for resolution are still further limited, with costly external resolution and legal support often being required to reach resolutions. Potential action/intervention at this stage is being piloted with a town council struggling with chronic issues. It is being overseen by the joint NALC/SLCC Internal Development Board. If the solution proves successful it may be possible to expand the support programme but much depends on the councils' willingness to make a positive change. Early intervention to head off chronic issues is a far more effective mechanism to handle poor behaviour.  

Dignity at Work policy

The Dignity at Work policy is the first of a series of new or revised governance documents which are being developed by the project team. The documents have been reviewed by a focus group made up of clerks, councillors, monitoring officers, and county associations.

The Dignity at Work policy will replace any previous bullying and harassment policy. It encompasses behaviours beyond bullying and harassment and zero-tolerance to deal with concerns before they escalate. It has been produced with supporting guidance because it is essential that any commitment to the policy is applied in practice. 

The wording has been suggested to demonstrate a council’s commitment to promoting dignity and respect where they have signed up to the Civility and Respect Pledge. Councils who have not signed up for this are requested to consider making this pledge which is based on basic behaviours and expectations of all council representatives to create workplaces that allow people to maintain their dignity at all times.

Download the Dignity at Work policy

The Dignity at Work policy refers to an Equality and Diversity policy. To access the template, please log in to the NALC website and visit the templates section.

Early Day Motion for Sanctions

Following the expiry of the first Early Day Motion (EDM), Dr Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, has tabled another EDM calling on the government to re-visit its response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life report on local government ethical standards including the introduction of tougher sanctions to deal with poor behaviour in local councils.

Members are urged to contact their local MPs and encourage them to sign this EDM

What are EDMs?

EDMs are motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons for which no day has been fixed. Whilst few are debated, many attract a great deal of public interest and media coverage.

They are used to record individual MPs' views or draw attention to specific events or campaigns. By attracting the signatures of other MPs, they can demonstrate the level of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.

What can you do?

The more MPs who support this EDM, the more likely it is to get discussed in parliament. Please either table an agenda item to pass a resolution for your council to write to the local MP asking that they back this motion and have it discussed in parliament or write to your MP as an individual. 

We’ve designed template letters which you can use to contact your MP on this issue. You may like to amend or personalise it with an introduction and sign-off; if appropriate, the inclusion of any personal experiences will help add context and influence.

Download the template letter for councils to MP

Download the template letter for clerks to MP

Please take the time to support us with this very important and worthwhile campaign so that we can start to make a change.  

HR podcasts

One critical area that challenges relationships between councillors and clerks is the council’s responsibility as an employer for the clerk. Councils that support and value their staff can better deliver their objectives and adapt to changing needs or priorities. Whether the council employs a single member of staff for a few hours a week, or a large and varied team of individuals, good employment practice from recruitment to support and development is key to achieving the best outcomes for your communities.

The Civility and Respect Project team have worked with Chris Moses, managing director of Personnel Advice and Solutions Ltd, to deliver a series of podcasts explaining councils' responsibilities as employers.

Podcast #1 — Building an effective personnel committee

In this first podcast, Chris Moses explains the importance of ensuring local councils have an effective personnel committee, what the responsibilities of the committee are and gives an overview of the critical issues, including:

• Who is best suited to be on the committee?
• Effective terms of reference
• Having the right contacts
• Statutory requirements for effective line management

Watch the podcast

Podcast #2 — Recruitment

In this second podcast, Chris Moses covers the critical considerations for councils about recruitment, including:

• Deciding who in the council is responsible for recruitment
• Drafting the person's specification 
• Designing the job advert around the needs of the council
• Objective/non-discriminatory selection criteria
• Asking the right questions in the right place at the right time
• Using objective and measurable methods to select the right person
• Entitlement to work in the UK and Inductions

Watch the podcast

Podcast #3 — Handling grievances

In this podcast, Chris Moses covers the critical considerations for councils about handling grievances, including:

• Who do employees complain to, and who has the authority to deal with these situations?
• Investigating complaints informally
• Deciding whether the council can resolve the complaint
• Code of Conduct complaints against councillors
• Conducting a formal grievance and appeal hearing

This is an introduction to the subject and should be viewed alongside current grievance policies. In any grievance process, it is so essential that the review panel is made up of impartial and independent councillors, and sometimes it is necessary to seek additional advice or to outsource the case to an HR service provider with specialist local council knowledge.

Watch the podcast

Podcast #4 — Handling disciplinary situations

In this podcast, Chris Moses covers some of the critical considerations for councils about handling disciplinary situations, including:

• Who has the right within the council to discipline staff?
• Conducting informal investigatory meetings
• Deciding how to support and encourage employees to improve and overcome their conduct/performance issues fairly and reasonably
• What if they don’t improve – formal disciplinary action?
• Getting the formal process and the paperwork right, including dismissals

This is an introduction to the subject and should be viewed alongside current grievance policies. In any grievance process, it is so essential that the review panel is made up of impartial and independent councillors, and sometimes it is necessary to seek additional advice or to outsource the case to an HR service provider with specialist local council knowledge.

Watch the podcast

Podcast #5 — Appraisals

In this podcast, Chris Moses covers some of the critical considerations for councils about appraisals, including:

• The purpose of appraisals
• Picking the correct appraisal form for your council
• How to prepare for the appraisal
• Asking the right questions in the right place and at the right time
• Action plans following appraisals
• Confidentiality

This is an introduction to the subject. More information and training may be available from your county association, and sometimes it is necessary to seek additional advice from an HR service provider with specialist local council knowledge.

Watch the podcast

Podcast #6 — Sickness and absence

In this podcast, Chris Moses covers some of the critical considerations for councils concerning sickness and absence management, including:

• Understanding the legal position
• Objectively measuring absences.
• Conducting reasonable investigations into chronic health issues
• Formal procedures to address the absences 
• Making reasonable adjustments to accommodate people with disabilities at work.
• Terminating employment through the Capability procedure.

This is an introduction to the subject. More information and training may be available from your county association, and sometimes it is necessary to seek additional advice from an HR service provider with specialist local council knowledge.

Watch the podcast

Model councillor-officer protocol

A strong, constructive, and trusting relationship between councillors and officers is essential to the effective and efficient working of the council.

The purpose of this protocol is to guide councillors and officers of the council in their relations with one another. The protocol intends to build and maintain good working relationships between councillors and officers as they work together.

The document covers the following:

• The respective roles and responsibilities of the councillors and the officer.
• Relationships between councillors and officers.
• Where/who should a councillor or an officer go to if they have concerns?
• Who is responsible for making decisions?

Read the protocol

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Recruitment guide

One key area that challenges relationships between councillors and clerks is the council’s responsibility as an employer for the clerk. Councils that support and value their staff can better deliver their objectives and adapt to changing needs or priorities. 

The creation of, and appointment to any post, particularly the most senior job(s) in an organisation, is one of the most critical investments a council will make. The recruitment process presents legal requirements and key challenges in choosing the right person.

Whether the council employs a single staff member for a few hours a week or a large and varied team of individuals, good recruitment practices are the key to fostering good relationships.

Therefore, everyone responsible for or involved in staff recruitment must meet the challenges through a planned and structured process and understand the key issues and best techniques. This guide has been developed to assist you and your local council through all the stages of a successful recruitment campaign.

To access the guide, please visit the Development Tools section of the member's area

Roles and responsibilities guidance

Councillors and officers have different but complementary roles. Councillors, as the democratically-elected representatives of their areas, are there to set the budget and strategic direction of the council and ensure that the community’s priorities are identified and delivered. The responsibility of officers is to advise the council on whether its decisions are lawful and recommend ways to implement them. The council is responsible for decisions, and officers take instructions from the council as a body. They are not answerable to any individual councillor – not even the chair.

The roles and responsibilities document expands on the guidance given in the councillor-officer protocol, gives practical examples and explains some grey areas. It should be read alongside The Good Councillor's guide published by NALC and model councillor-officer protocol.

Read the roles and responsibilities guidance

Social media guide

Social media is a simple, quick and effective way of communicating. It allows a user to reach whole communities at the click of a button, which is perfect for community engagement. Councils and councillors can constructively engage with communities rather than simply broadcasting information. But unfortunately, in a small number of cases, councillors and councils can experience online abuse. Social media can become where individuals resort to abusive behaviour, such as aggressive language, threats, trolling and bullying. Building up your following on social media is more challenging if a small number of angry voices dominate.

The project team developed a new guide to social media for councils, officers and councillors to actively address the issues of civility and respect on social media. It is designed to guide you through the challenges of social media for local councils, from handling trolling to legitimate challenge and scrutiny, from smear campaigns to politics. The guide will help you use positive language to tone to shape engagement and the conversation, to find common ground and engage with various views.

There is also help on escalating issues, deleting and moderating comments, blocking abusive users, reporting online abuse and legal matters to the police or social media platforms and deciding when it is time to get off social media.

Read the social media guide