Cllr Robin Pegg’s lengthy Downham Town Council meeting rant sees him accused of bullying
It was meant to be a former mayor’s chance to rail against injustice, but his lengthy address struck a different nerve than intended.
Cllr Robin Pegg, who used to be the mayor of Downham, managed to talk himself into a code of conduct complaint for bullying following his recent speech at a town council meeting.
The subject of his rage was a recent decision by the authority to abolish almost all its committees.
Members had decided the move behind closed doors before the meeting, and the proposal to scrap the committees was not on the meeting agenda.
This spurred fears from Cllr Pegg that the radical procedural change had been made “unlawfully”.
It was the spark for his impassioned ten-minute declamation, outlining what he saw as the council’s wrongs.
And while the councillor’s epic oration had the desired effect – the reinstating of the committees – it is now the focus of a disciplinary investigation.
“THIS WILL TAKE SOME TIME”
Cllr Pegg, who has served for 20 years, had waited patiently for about an hour before being given the chance to speak at the meeting in April.
Before he even began, he faced attempts to cut it short.
He filed a motion prior to the meeting asking for more time than the usual five minutes allotted.
Addressing fellow councillors, he said: “This is going to take a little bit of time.
“It is too important and possibly has serious consequential effects for the council if it is rushed or cut short.”
He gained permission to speak at length by the smallest of margins, with nine councillors voting in support, seven against and two abstaining.
This then paved the way for him to speak unbridled by time restrictions and make his carefully prepared statement.
COMMITTEES CONDEMNED
In February, the town council voted to cease all committees, except HR and community engagement, with the workload to be managed by the full council instead through fortnightly meetings.
This decision was held in secret, with little detail available publicly about what was discussed.
Committees perform a special function at councils, offering members the chance to make decisions on specific subjects like planning and finance.
However, at Downham, there are understood to have been tensions over how people were being appointed to them.
Some councillors were upset about being excluded from certain committees or being members of ones they did not want to be on.
“UNLAWFUL ACCUSATIONS”
In his speech, Cllr Pegg argued the decision to cull several committees was made “unlawfully” and called for it to be reversed.
He claimed this was because the issue was not published within the meeting agenda and that no written motion had been brought forward prior to the meeting.
Instead, it was an ad hoc decision made by councillors after discussions held in private, with the press and public barred.
Cllr Pegg referenced a legal case that was 107 years old, in which the High Court ruled a council “cannot lawfully decide any matter” in private session without making it a “clear agenda item”.
He also highlighted earlier decisions that may have fallen foul of being “unlawful”, claiming it was “common practice,” before exclaiming “wrong, wrong, wrong”.
“I’m afraid wrong has been done for a long time, and it has to stop,” he said.
“Only you councillors can stop it. The public deserves better.”
DEBATE ENSUES
Cllr Pegg’s allegations led to a lengthy hour-long debate as members and the town clerk were left confused as to how to proceed with decision-making.
Rebecca Dorman, the town clerk, said: “If that is the law, then that is the law.
“It isn’t how I was trained, but if I have been trained incorrectly, then I need to go back and challenge that.
“What I don’t want is to have a full council vote on any more illegal actions.”
Cllr Pegg was then asked to find the relevant clause in the council’s constitution to back up his stance on what was the correct procedure.
He read out the details, stating all the circumstances that required written notice of a motion prior to a meeting, which initially appeared to support his claim.
However, the then-mayor Barry Hobbs highlighted Cllr Pegg had missed a clause, which said motions can be moved at a meeting without written notice if a “motion to move to a vote” was made.
“I don’t think we are doing anything unlawful,” he said, which appeared to silence Cllr Pegg’s protestations.
PROBE LAUNCHED
Following the meeting, the town council launched an investigation into Cllr Pegg’s complaints and consulted with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, Norfolk Parish Training and Support, as well as Croner Group, a HR firm.
All three agencies found the council had not acted unlawfully.
At the following meeting on Tuesday, May 20, Cllr Pegg came under fire.
Michael Lane, who was elected as the new mayor last month, said that Cllr Pegg had made “serious and harmful accusations” that risked “damaging both the clerk’s professional reputation” and that of the town council.
He added: “His comments constitute bullying.
“Employees were publicly criticised for past actions, spreading damaging misinformation that has already been unfounded.”
Councillors agreed to issue a code of conduct complaint, which will be investigated by West Norfolk Council and call for Cllr Pegg to apologise.
COMMITTEES REINSTATED
While he is potentially facing reprimand for his speech, Cllr Pegg’s complaints about stopping committees have led to a U-turn at the council.
Members agreed to reinstate them at the same meeting, with lengthy discussions over who should sit on them then ensuing for about an hour, with the process of appointing members still ongoing.
Cllr Pegg said he was pleased that they had returned, but he declined to say anything further due to being subject to a code of conduct complaint.
“I believe I did the right thing,” he said.
