Ashfield council vows to behave

Ashfield District CouncilAshfield District Council
Ashfield District Council
District councillors have agreed to improve their behaviour after a damning Government report revealed it had turned into a ‘basketcase council’.

The Local Government Association (LGA) probed into Ashfield District Council and found instances of ‘bullying’ and ‘aggression’, and poor personal relationships got in the way of finding solutions for the people in the community.

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The report was delivered to members at a full council meeting last Wednesday at the council offices in Kirkby.

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Speaking at the meeting Coun John Knight addressed the report.

He said: “I think it’s quite wrong to say we are a dysfunctional council. I think it’s a council that on the whole works well.

“It is completely and utterly wrong.”

He said people had spent their lives trying to make a difference to Ashfield and the report suggested that wasn’t the case.

He added: “It is very difficult to turn that perception around even in ten or twenty years.

He said it was ‘depressing’ to read the report.

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Recommendations to improve behaviour was agreed unanimously - after Coun Gail Turner asked for everyone at the meeting to be given written guidelines.

Measures include reviewing the code of conduct to avoid misinterpretation, speed up investigating complaints, consider a local sanctions approach and speed up the process of investigating complaints against Members

Leader of Ashfield District council councillor Chris Baron said: “This report has now gone through the democratic process.

I hope all parties agree with the recommendations.

“The standards and personnel committee are charged with bringing back to the full Council recommendations, in particular relating to sanctions for elected Members.

“Let’s hope these awful incidents are now behind us and the council can continue in a positive and successful way forward.”

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