New personal safety and social media guidance has been issued to councillors in Bury in the wake of the murder of MP David Amess.
New policies, including advice that councillors should screenshot unacceptable abuse they receive on their social media accounts, are set to be approved by the council this week.
The revised members safety policy was requested by Bury Council’s chief executive, Geoff Little, following the death of MP David Amess, who was killed during a meeting in his Essex constituency in October last year.
A cross-party member safety group was established to review current guidance.
Councillors did not express any overt safety concerns but agreed revised guidance would be welcomed. The report to be put before the council this week said: “All elected members deal with residents’ concerns sometimes by phone or email and sometimes face to face.
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“Those individuals can feel upset and angry and in extreme circumstances may lead to members feeling concerned about their safety.”
Advice on councillors holding ward surgeries includes choosing a venue such as a busy community centre, library or where there will be other people using the building at the same time.
Councillors are advised to avoid holding ward surgeries in an empty venue or in a room where they could be locked in. They are also requested where possible to hold them with other ward members, community police officers or other community groups.
When making home visits to residents councillors are told to ‘always sit nearest to the door that you came in’ and to ‘keep a record of your appointment in your diary or electronic calendar which includes name/address/ telephone number of the constituent you are visiting’.
Councillors are advised to ‘discourage constituents from coming to your home’ and ‘try to maintain distance’. The report also includes pointers on receiving abusive phone calls and social media posts.
The guidance, states: “If you receive abusive or prolific emails, texts or messages via social media that give you cause for concern about your safety in the first instance all issues need to be logged with GMP to create a case number.
“Inappropriate content can be reported to the social media site directly to ask for it to be removed.
“You may wish to save a screenshot in the circumstances.
“Any form of intimidation or abuse on a social medial platform is subject to all the same potential criminal prosecutions as other forms of intimidation.
“If you feel intimidated, you should take action to report it to Bury Council.”
