Council probe finds bad behaviour 'normalised'
GoogleA review into culture at a city council has called for a "reset" and found some councillors had "significant behavioural and trust issues".
A Local Government Association (LGA) independent inquiry into the running of Newcastle City Council was commissioned in December 2024 amid a series of controversies.
Its publication was delayed until after the May local elections in which Labour was removed from power for a Liberal Democrat minority administration.
LGA said the poor behaviour of some individuals had become "normalised", but most people interviewed felt the council's culture had improved. Colin Ferguson, who became council leader in May, said the authority was in a "very different place".
The most notable controversy in the run up were the accusations of bullying made by senior director Michelle Percy against ex-council leader Nick Kemp.
The LGA peer review did not start until 12 months later, having been delayed until the end of a separate investigation which ultimately cleared Kemp of breaching the council's code of conduct.
The report will be presented at a full council meeting next week.
The LGA called for the authority to "reset relationships and rebuild trust across the whole council" following what it called a "distracting period".
It found that the council had "good leadership, effective governance and good relationships" between senior officers and politicians.
However, the inquiry team said the "greatest risk to the council is presented by several councillors (outside the administration) demonstrating some significant behavioural and trust issues, including a lack of respect".
The report warned "poor behaviour has now become almost accepted, tolerated and normalised" among a small group of elected politicians and such problems existed "across the piece and not just amongst one or two parties".
It also described full council meetings as "intimidating" for some members, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
In relation to the bullying accusations that sparked the LGA review, the report concluded the council's checks and balances "worked" and that "the people overseeing it did as much as they could as quickly as they could".
LDRSFerguson said: "On the whole the report is positive, and confirms that the governance arrangements we have in place are fit for purpose," he said
He also added an action plan would be put in place to address any improvements.
