The actions of Carlisle City Council’s deputy leader came back under the spotlight at full council this week when a report into three upheld complaints against him was discussed.
Cllr Gareth Ellis was sanctioned in September for three breaches of the authority’s Code of Conduct.
Two complaints were made against him by former Labour councillor Chris Robinson. On one occasion Cllr Ellis was said to have made derogatory comments about him on social media.
A second complaint was made by the former councillor after Cllr Ellis sent an email to his place of work that he feels was meant to damage his reputation. A third complaint that Cllr Ellis interrupted a fellow councillor’s speech at council in 2020 was also sanctioned with a formal letter.
At a meeting of the Standards Committee in September, it was ruled that Cllr Ellis was in breach of the code on those three occasions and the committee presented their findings to full council on Tuesday.
Commenting on the report, Labour councillor Peter Sunter said: “The decision of the all-party Standards Committee is a very serious matter and any ruling should not be taken lightly.
“To protect the future integrity of the committee I would like to ask these questions tonight on behalf of the Labour group. The deputy leader was found to have breached the council’s Code of Conduct on three occasions, however, the report to council does not mention that the deputy leader used his council email to try and have a former member of this council sacked, even though it clearly appears [in the] minute book.
“Why was this omitted from the report? Would the chair agree that this could seem that the report is misleading and could be seen as a cover-up of the committee’s actual findings?
“One of the recommendations to the deputy leader was that he sends a letter of apology to all those impacted by his actions. Seven weeks on and those impacted by the actions of the deputy leader have not yet received such a letter of apology.
“Would the chair agree with me that the deputy leader should show remorse regarding his actions or respect the outcome of the cross-party Standards Committee which in turn show he believes the rules do not really apply to him?”
Cllr Bowman replied: “The standards board does not have the jurisdiction to insist. We asked that a letter of apology is sent – we cannot follow up and insist that it is sent.”
She added that “there is no missing information”.
“There were members from both parties present and it was agreed at every point. Every decision was agreed by all of the people there. The inference is there that there was some cover-up. There certainly was not.“I do have to say, I do believe that the standard certainly within our council… is slipping.”
