Decision details

The committee considered the final report of the Harassment, Abuse and Intimidation Task and Finish Group which was established in January 2025 to consider the issue of harassment, abuse and intimidation faced by Elected Members.

The committee welcomed the report and thanked the Task and Finish Group and officers for their work. The committee agreed that the findings from the Member Survey were concerning and that the detailed support identified by the Task and Finish Group would go some way in supporting Members impacted by harassment, intimidation and abuse.

The committee agreed that the recommendations set out within the report should be implemented as quickly as possible and that Members also needed to consider how they could build their own resilience and build mechanisms to protect themselves. It was important that training for Members was right and included key themes such as managing social media accounts, building resilience to taking action against individuals that were abusive and understanding when it was appropriate to contact the Police.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the Corporate Policy Committee

1. Note the findings of the Member Survey (Appendix 1).

2. Approve the Councillor Incident Reporting Form (non-emergencies) (Appendix 2).

3. Agree that the Head of Democratic Services be appointed as the Council’s Nominated Officer for councillors dealing with harassment, abuse and intimidation and approve the supporting role description (Appendix 3).

4. Approve the Councillor Safety Protocol (Appendix 4) and note that this will be available on the Members Hub.

5. Agree that Cheshire East Council reaffirms its commitment and support to the principles of the LGA Debate Not Hate Public Statement.

6. Agree the role profile (Appendix 5) for the Member Champion: Councillor Safety and note that the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council will appoint a Member to this role.

7. Agree that the proposed training, as set out in paragraph 6.12.7 of the T&F Group report, be added to the Member Training and Development Plan.

8. Agree that the principle of lone working devices being made available to those Members who wish to have one subject to the cost implications being considered and developed further by the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Corporate Policy Committee and Chair of the Task and Finish Group.

9. Subject to the resolution of recommendation 8, approve that the Acting Governance, Compliance and Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to proceed with required procurement and contractual processes in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Corporate Policy Committee and the Chair of the Task and Finish Group.