Harrogate councillors block fellow Conservative from civic title as standards row continues

Six Conservative councillors have denied a councillor from the same party the chance to receive a prestigious civic title.

Harrogate Borough Council has the power to bestow the title of honorary alderman or honorary alderwomen to past members who have given over 15 years of good service.

The impending abolition of the council on March 31 to make way for the new North Yorkshire unitary council means a host of councillors can be considered.

The list includes Nick Brown, Conservative councillor for Bishop Monkton and Newby, who has been a borough councillor for 15 years but had been the subject of a standards investigation following comments he made.

During a meeting last month, Conservative council leader Richard Cooper proposed a successful motion to change the council’s constitution and effectively ban councillors from becoming an honorary alderman or alderwoman if they have fallen foul of the council’s code of conduct but have then refused to take any of the recommended actions such as apologise to members.

The authority’s general purposes committee met yesterday evening and voted on which councillors would be recommended for the title.

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Before voting on Cllr Brown, head of legal and governance Jennifer Norton read out a statement on his behalf that said the councillor believed he had no outstanding course of action to take following his investigation.

Ms Norton said:

“The decision notice identifies two actions, the first one being to draw the process to a close as it’s not been possible to reach a satisfactory conclusion or an apology — and the second one is to recommend to Cllr Brown that he reflects on the concerns raised and considers whether the points he was trying to make in a submission were well served by his style of presentation or use of injudicious language.

“Cllr Brown advises me that he’s reflected on the concerns raised and has also informed me that on September 24, 2021, he sent an email to all his colleagues with an informal apology. In this way he feels there are no outstanding courses of action for him to take when you assess that against the decision notice.”

However, six Conservative councillors on the committee — Richard Cooper, Tim Myatt, Rebecca Burnett, Matt Scott, Ed Darling and Sam Gibbs — all voted against recommending Cllr Brown for the honorary alderman title.

Ripon independent, Pauline McHardy, Liberal Democrat, Philip Broadbank and Cllr Brown himself voted in favour.

Longest serving female also excluded

By six votes to three, the committee also voted against recommending Liberal Democrat member for Hookstone, Pat Marsh, who is the longest-serving female councillor on the authority with 33 years’ service.

Cllr Marsh was found to have breached the council’s code of conduct after she made comments to a resident, that were secretly recorded, about council leader Richard Cooper, council officers and Cllr Cooper’s employer, Conservative MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough Andrew Jones.

A standards panel at HBC asked Cllr Marsh to make a public apology but she refused, citing her right to free speech and accusing the panel of not being politically balanced, having two Conservatives and one independent councillor.

By five votes to four, councillors voted against former Ripon councillor and current county councillor Andrew Williams from becoming an honorary alderman despite his 20 years of service.

The full list of councillors put forward for the title and how long they have served is below:

Philip Broadbank, Liberal Democrat councillor for Starbeck (44 years)
Nigel Simms, Conservative councillor for Masham and Kirkby Malzeard (24 years)
Margaret Atkinson, former Conservative councillor for Fountains and Ripley (23 years)
Jim Clark, former Conservative councillor for Harlow (22 years)
Trevor Chapman, Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange (19 years)
Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall and Hampsthwaite (19 years)
Sid Hawke, Ripon Independents councillor for Ripon Ure Bank (18 years)
Stuart Martin, Conservative councillor for Ripon Moorside (18 years)
Christine Willoughby, Liberal Democrats councillor for Knaresborough Eastfield (17 years)
Matthew Webber, Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park (16 years)
Robert Windass, Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge (15 years)