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Complaint no. LA/Fi/542 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Mike Rumney and former Councillor Anne McGovern of Fife Council

1. Complaint number LA/Fi/542 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Mike Rumney and former Councillor Anne McGovern ("the respondents").

2. It was alleged that the respondents had contravened the Code, in particular the key principles of Objectivity, Accountability and Stewardship, Openness, Honesty, Leadership and Respect and paragraph 3.14 relating to Conduct in the Chamber.

3. The complaint concerned a decision to make alterations to certain area boundaries within the proposed Fife Development Plan. The complainant, who is Secretary of a Community Council, alleged that there was a lack of consultation on the matter and that the respondents failed to rescind a decision to make amendments to a certain area for strategic planning purposes. The Environment and Development Services Committee, which was chaired by Councillor Mike Rumney, were advised by officers that there was no requirement for consultation on the proposal at that stage, and that progressing of the Local Plan would include widespread consultation. The Committee approved the boundary alterations at their meeting on 14 June 2004.

4. There was nothing in the conduct of the meeting to suggest any breach of the normal business processes by Councillor Mike Rumney. The Committee reached a decision which they were entitled to take, and did so in the normal way they were accustomed to doing, and there was no indication of any contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

5. The concern about lack of consultation was raised at a subsequent meeting of Fife Council on 30 June 2004. Councillor Rumney himself indicated that implementation of the decision would be delayed to allow officers to meet with affected Community Councils and explain the background. This was duly done through a series of meetings and the outcome reported back to the Environment and Development Services Committee on 1 November 2004. A report on this was prepared for the Committee's information and it was placed on the agenda for noting. The complainant complained that Councillor Rumney failed to allow any discussion of Community Council responses and that, in doing so, he acted undemocratically and unprofessionally. The complainant also said that Councillor Rumney refused to allow the Local Member, (now former) Councillor Ewen Jardine, to argue the case that he had treated Councillor Jardine disrespectfully and that his actions were contrary to the Code of Conduct. Although no debate was allowed, Councillor Jardine himself has acknowledged that it was the Chair's prerogative to decide whether or not to allow a discussion, or to say the report was for noting. Councillor Jardine did not consider that he had personally been treated disrespectfully.

6. It appeared to me that the Committee meetings were conducted entirely within the normal operation of Council business. While the complainant was perhaps understandably concerned that decisions were taken affecting his area without prior consultation, the statutory consultation processes allow public comment on the contents of draft Local Plans. In due course, such consultation would have been part of the Local Plan timetable. I did not see evidence that Councillor Mike Rumney was disrespectful in his conduct of the meetings and the circumstances in which decisions were reached did not give rise to any breach of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by him. I did not consider, therefore, that Councillor Rumney had breached key principles of Objectivity, Accountability and Stewardship, Openness, Honesty, Leadership and Respect, nor the provisions of paragraph 3.14 of the Code of Conduct.

7. I did not consider that a complaint of any real substance was made in regard to former Councillor Anne McGovern. Indeed, the complainant indicated that her role in the matter was not significant. The complaint was that she failed to show Leadership and Respect in that, knowing how people felt about the matter, she took no action to rescind the decision to alter the boundaries in the Local Plan. Such a claim failed to recognise that the Council are a corporate body and that an individual councillor cannot take the action envisaged by the complainant. The complainant was also aggrieved that Councillor McGovern made comments to the effect that everyone "should draw a line and move on". There is nothing to prevent a councillor from voicing such an opinion, and any such expression would not amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct.

8. Having considered the information that arose from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor Mike Rumney and former Councillor Anne McGovern had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
21 September 2007