NORTH Kesteven's Standards Committee has suggested a possible way forward that might be taken up by Sleaford Town Council after it was advised to back out of mediation talks with unhappy residents.
Vice-chairman of the committee Coun Shirley Flint suggested the council could invite her and chairman Elizabeth Bowers in to help air differences and resolve problems that may have arisen between members.
A parish meeting of residents in January h
ad agreed to go through mediation led by the chairman of the district standards committee to resolve concerns over how the town council was being run.
But nearing the time of the date for talks to start, the council pulled out on advice from the chief executive of the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils. The LALC felt it might set a precedent for resolving issues that should have been addressed to the council itself through its grievance procedure.
The Standards Board of England has supported the view that it may undermine the democratic process.
Clerk to the town council Ed Reilly said after discussions with the chief executives of NKDC and the LALC they were looking at having a meeting with councillors in order to cut down on the number of nuisance complaints being passed to the standards committee.
He believed most complaints showed the person reporting did not understand the code of conduct for councillors with regard to declaring interests.
Since May there have been between 30 and 40 reports about town councillors to the Standards Board – the majority proving to have made no breach - compared to three or four before that date.
The full article contains 272 words and appears in Sleaford Standard newspaper.
