Former Holbeach parish councillor calls for ‘effective arbitration’
‘An effective arbitration system which holds people to account’ has been called for by the latest councillor to resign from a troubled authority.
Mark Murfet has resigned from Holbeach Parish Council last week and has highlighted unwarranted and unacceptable language and behaviours within his resignation statement.
He is the second councillor to resign in the last two months with former vice-chairman Rick Stevens leaving in September. Currently nine of the 18 seats on the parish council had been filled and a full council meeting was due to held on Monday last week, but was postponed.
According to the Local Government Association, the Localism Act governs ‘the system of regulation of standards of councillor conduct’ and each authority must have a code of conduct which is line with the Nolan Principles. These are: selflessness, honesty, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness and leadership.
Complaints about councillor conduct are in this area investigated by South Holland District Council’s monitoring officer, who assesses the complaint against certain criteria before making a decision on whether to take no action; refer the matter for informal resolution or formal investigation.
This year the district council has received ten standards complaints in the last 12 months and none resulted in any sanctions.
Mr Murfet, who has held the posts of chairman of open spaces and human resources since joining the council in 2021l, has confirmed his resignation.
He said: “It is with sadness and regret I have had to make this decision.
“I feel very privileged to have represented the parishioners and work collaboratively to improve the functionality of the council and I have always maintained a level of professionalism and adhered to the Nolan principles.
“However there are some that do not value the Nolan principles and some of the language and behaviours at times are just not acceptable or warranted.
“I have always tried my best to deliver for the people of Holbeach.
“But even with all my efforts, the lack of an effective arbitration system that will hold people to account and ensure that the principles are followed and adhered to does not work in local government at parish level.
As a parish council that should have 18 councillors I believe it speaks volumes that we only have nine people in the whole, of one of the largest parishes by area in the country, that are willing to try to support and represent the parishioners.
“The staff at Holbeach Parish Council do a phenomenal job as do the majority of the councillors and I wish them all well in trying to continue to drive the change at HPC and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with and for them, however, my integrity is worth more to me than accepting such behaviour and not having a recourse to action change.”
New chairman of Holbeach Parish Council, Clive Turner, has agreed that an arbitration body ‘with teeth’ is needed.
He said: “Its certainly a shame that Mark decided to resign he's been a respected and valued member of the parish council. He has guided us through and delivered some challenging outcomes that have been ongoing for some time, contributing to an overall improvement in staff morale.
“This though, his reasons, along with the other recent resignation of Rick Stevens clearly highlights the challenges of a parish council.
“In my view its not a political body and shouldn't be used as such. It is an elected body(a team) which needs to work together to benefit the town. Its basic responsibilities are relatively narrow however it can have a wider benefit and influence.
“However whilst we have the Nolan principles, these are not legally binding and should councillors choose not to adhere to these, there is no definitive sanction.
“In fact the monitoring bodies in place to do this are effectively powerless. Councillors cannot be removed and little can be done regarding poor behaviours or non delivery.
“An arbitration body with teeth is essential, the history of HPC alone should be sufficient evidence of that need. Councillors are unpaid and must have sufficent integrity and professionalism amongst other qualities to serve, but respect for each other should be a given.”