Bradford councillors have been told to find ways of improving their behaviour within three months.

The missive from the Standards Board for England comes after a tribunal found one senior councillor had breached the strict code of conduct.

All councillors must sign up to the code which states they must treat fellow councillors and the authority with respect.

They must also disclose any information which could sway their vote on a council decision.

There have been a number of alleged breaches in the last five years.

The Council's employee development unit runs an induction course for first-time councillors and as a refresher for existing members - but they cannot be forced to attend.

In the last five years there have been a number of cases involving Bradford councillors where the Standards Board has been called in. These include:

  • Councillor Simon Cooke (Con, Bingley Rural) was found to have breached the code in April 2004 when he gave a Nazi-style salute and shouted "Sieg Heil" during a Council meeting. He failed to treat a fellow councillor with respect and brought his officer or authority into disrepute by acting this way. No further action was taken because Coun Cooke had apologised and resigned as deputy leader of the Council.
  • Councillor David Heseltine (Con, Bingley) was found guilty of bringing the authority into disrepute by storing offensive pornographic material on a council laptop. E-mails of jokes and semi-naked women were found by a council employee maintaining the machine. The board referred the matter back to the Council's own standards committee which suspended Coun Heseltine for a month.
  • Coun Simon Cooke was again before the board earlier this month and was found to have breached the code by verbally abusing and intimidating another councillor. The tribunal found him guilty of failing to treat others with respect and bringing his office or authority into disrepute. It decided to take no further action as he had already apologised and lost his place on the decision-making executive.
It was then the panel advised the Council to ensure all councillors receive training in the code of conduct to prevent future breaches.

Salman Mather, Bradford Council's head of democratic services, said: "It is very important that all councillors adhere to the code of conduct which is given to all new councillors, and is available on our internal website. We will also be following the recommendation of the tribunal to ensure all members have access to training about the code."

The Council has three months in which to produce a report for the Standards Board outlining what it has done or intends to do to better train councillors. If the board is unhappy with the result it can require the Council to publish a public statement stating the reasons why it has not made any changes.

e-mail: jo.winrow@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

CODE OF CONDUCT

A councillor must:

  • promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person
  • treat others with respect
  • not do anything which compromises the impartiality of those who work for the Council
  • ensure that the resources of the Council are not used for political purposes, unless it relates to the office to which they have been elected
  • disclose a personal or prejudicial interest if it could affect a decision they are making
  • register within 28 days of election their financial interests with the monitoring office
  • provide written notific-ation to the monitoring officer of any gift or hospitality received over the value of £25
  • make a written allegation to the Standards Board for England if they become aware of any conduct by another councillor they believe does not comply with the code.