Information on Investigations

Which Sector? > Local Authorities > West Lothian Council > LA/WL/514

Note Of Decision Web Version

Complaint no. LA/WL/514 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Audrey Gordon of West Lothian Council

1. Complaint number LA/WL/514 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Audrey Gordon ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, paragraph 3.17 which permits the Use of Council Facilities by Councillors for the purpose of carrying out their duties as Councillors or as holders of a particular office within the Council, but prohibits their use for party political or campaigning activities.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant") alleged that the cost of a letter distributed by the respondent to her constituents, at the Council's expense (£798), advising them that she will not be contesting her ward at the May 2007 elections, should have been paid for by either the respondent herself or by her political party. In addition the complainant regarded the use of Council headed notepaper as inappropriate. He initially requested that his complaint be investigated as "financial mismanagement, misuse of public monies" but subsequently stated that he was raising his complaint under paragraph 3.17 of the Code.

4. Paragraph 3.17 of the Code permits the use by councillors of a Council's normal administrative facilities for the purpose of carrying out their duties as councillors or as holders of a particular office within the Council, but prohibits their use for party political or campaigning activities. The paragraph also requires local authorities to comply with the statutory rules governing local authority publicity. Those rules are laid down in section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986 and expanded upon in the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity. In summary, the statute prohibits the issue of material designed to affect support for a political party and in determining whether the material falls within the prohibition regard has to be had, inter alia, to the content of the material, the time of its publication, the likely effect on those to whom it is directed and, in particular, to whether the material refers to a political party or to persons identified with a political party. Section 2 also prohibits a local authority from giving financial or other assistance to a person for the publication of material which the authority are prohibited by the section from publishing themselves.

5. Internal guidelines produced by the Monitoring Officer for the use of staff in the Members' Services section indicate that mailshots can be issued by councillors to a section or all of their ward or electorate where, inter alia, they add meaningful value to the information received by the recipients or where they promote the Council (not the individual) and the content is factual and informative.

6. The letter issued by the respondent advised her constituents that she would not be standing for re-election at the May 2007 elections and thanked them for their support during her 19 years as a Councillor. The letter also referred briefly to the positive things they had achieved together (without detailing any specific issues) and reminded her constituents that she would be continuing to hold her surgery each Tuesday, as usual. While a small section of the letter could be regarded as being mildly self-congratulatory I considered the substantive part of the letter to be factual and informative in terms of its content and style.

7. On one interpretation the letter could be seen as an attempt to keep the name of the respondent's political party before the electorate. However, in order to be in danger of breaching the statutory provisions the content of the letter would require to have been party political. While the letter referred to a person who is identified with a political party, that is to say the respondent, there was no overt reference to the respondent's party (SNP) and I did not consider that, on any reasonable construction, the letter could be regarded as promoting or canvassing support for a political party or for a person identified with a political party.

8. The letter was the only one of its type issued by the respondent and there was no evidence that it was linked with other contemporaneous letters from the respondent's political party or from her political colleagues. I am satisfied, therefore, that the letter was not part of a political campaign.

9. Having regard to the matters at paragraphs 5 to 8 above I found that:

- the letter issued by the respondent to her constituents was primarily for the purpose of advising them of her intention not to stand for election at the May 2007 elections and that its content was factual and informative;
- the cost of issuing the letter was £798; this could readily be understood to be disproportionate for the purpose particularly given other methods of achieving the same purpose at lesser cost;
- the letter was properly routed through the Members' Services Department, in accordance with approved internal procedures, and its content was authorised by the Monitoring Officer and the Director of Customer and Support Services;
- the nature, content and timing of the letter were such that it could not reasonably be regarded as being for the purpose of political or campaigning activities and, therefore, not material that the Council itself was prohibited from publishing under section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986;
- the Council was not prohibited from giving financial or other assistance to the respondent for the publication of the letter;
- the nature and content of the letter could reasonably be regarded as being for the purpose of informing the respondent's constituents about her duties as a councillor and that the publication of the letter was in line with the Council's internal guidelines and did not constitute a breach of paragraph 3.17 of the Code;
- it was reasonable for the respondent to have issued the letter on Council headed notepaper.

10. The guidelines produced by the Monitoring Officer on the use of Council facilities by councillors are for the use of staff when dealing with requests for assistance from members although a copy is provided to a member if requested. The Council may wish to consider adopting the guidelines formally and extending their distribution to all members. Before doing so the Monitoring Officer may wish to consider including a provision in the guidelines which, in addition to the existing criteria, requires the use of Council facilities to represent the efficient and economic use of the Council's resources.

11. Having considered the information that arose from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor Audrey Gordon had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

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