Suspended Stirling councillor Danny Gibson looks set to continue being paid his salary while not working as an elected member.
Cllr Gibson was last week given a five-month-long suspension after he was deemed to have breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct by behaving disrespectfully towards council officers and bullying one senior council official.
A Standards Commission for Scotland hearing was told how he pressured council officers, launched a personal attack on one senior officer and belittled staff in front of others at public and private meetings.
At a full council meeting yesterday (Thursday), councillors also unanimously agreed to bar him from representing the council on any external bodies for the duration of the council, an amendment put forward by his Labour colleagues stopping short of that measure having been first rejected by 15 votes to four.
Cllr Gibson was deputy leader of the council at the time the misconduct took place, in 2018 and 2019, serving in a joint SNP/Labour administration.
A further allegation that he called a senior female official a “boot” in a telephone call was not upheld.
Following the sanction, the Standards Commission has revealed that the councillor will continue to get his councillor’s salary. The basic annual pay for councillors from April 1, 2023, is £20,099.
Cllr Gibson this week wrote to Stirling Council Chief Executive, Carol Beattie, resigning from all of his committee positions and external council appointments.
A spokesperson for the Standards Commission this week told the Observer: “The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 does not give the Standards Commission the power to direct that any remuneration or allowance paid to a councillor is not paid or that it is reduced during a period of suspension. It does, however, give the Standards Commission the power to direct that a board member of a devolved public body does not receive their pay as a member in similar circumstances (i.e. when a board member is suspended).
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“So essentially the respondent [Cllr Gibson] should still receive his basic salary as he will be excepted to still carry out certain aspects of his role.”
Councillors who have been suspended by the Standards Commission should not, during the period of suspension, engage in any of the following: council decision-making; developing and reviewing policy; regulatory, quasi-judicial and statutory duties; formal scrutiny of service performance; member/officer working groups; partnership work with outside bodies; and any ceremonial duties or attend any external events or functions where they are representing the council.
They can, however, attend and participate in local bodies, such as community councils, Local Area Forums and voluntary organisations; political group meetings, campaigns and events; and training events.
They can also hold constituent surgeries and seek information on a constituent’s behalf in respect of a constituent’s case; advise council officers of a constituent’s views; help a constituent make their views known to the relevant council officer; give a constituent advice on procedure and who to contact; and raise concerns a constituent may have about a council service or decision.
Cllr Gibson this week issued a statement to the Observer, in which he gave his “sincere apologies” to those impacted by his conduct.
He added: “I fully accept the judgement of the Standards Commission and I will reflect on my behaviours and make all necessary adjustments.
“I have written to Chief Executive Carol Beattie resigning from all my committee positions and external council appointments.
“Upon my return from suspension, I hope I can draw a line under this and continue to represent my constituents in Stirling North to the best of my ability.”
The Standards Commission for Scotland issued a statement last week which said the breaches had the “potential to bring the council into disrepute” and that Cllr Gibson’s behaviour was “entirely inappropriate and unacceptable”.
They branded his conduct bullying and said: “Stirling Councillor Danny Gibson was found to have breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct for behaving disrespectfully towards council officers, and for having bullied a senior council officer.”
During the hearing last Wednesday, it was heard that Cllr Gibson acted disrespectfully towards an applicant’s legal representative at a licensing board meeting.
At the hearing, Cllr Gibson was further found to have breached the provisions in the Code that require councillors to act fairly and being seen to act fairly.
Cllr Gibson was found by the panel to have become inappropriately involved in operational matters by attempting to pressure officers to take certain action, in respect of issues relating to a development site and regarding the future of a community hall.
Witnesses told the hearing he belittled council staff, issued a “personal attack” and behaved disrespectfully on a number of occasions.
In relation to a planning application for flats in the Riverside area, it was stated that Cllr Gibson had began to copy then SNP councillor, now independent, Alasdair MacPherson into emails on the application to council officers and that in May of 2019 Cllr Gibson had requested officers to serve a “stop notice” – halting work at the site – due to concerns over HGV vehicles.
Council officers later indicated to Cllr Gibson that serving a stop notice could leave the council open to a legal challenge and no notice was served.
It was stated that at a pre-agenda meeting in October 2019, which was attended by council officers as well as councillors Gibson and MacPherson, that Cllr Gibson “belittled” council officers, including a senior manager. Cllr MacPherson said the meeting left the manager ”utterly demoralised”.
Giving evidence, chief operating officer Brian Roberts said: “What started as a pre-agenda meeting on paper quickly became a personal attack.”
Mr Roberts added: “I felt it was personal. I felt I was being belittled in front of colleagues and my professionalism was being questioned.”
Cllr Gibson said he was not pressuring officers but was in fact supporting them to use all of the delegated authority at their disposal.
Cllr Gibson added: “Brian (Roberts) is a fantastic officer and I have a huge amount of respect for him. I was genuinely sorry that those were his feelings on the matter.”
None of the witnesses were able to recount specific words used by Cllr Gibson towards officers.
Another complaint about Cllr Gibson’s conduct related to a licensing panel decision for a Shell petrol station on the A9 southbound at Balhaldie in October 2019. At the licensing committee meeting, it was said that Cllr Gibson had treated Shell’s legal representative with disrespect.
Former SNP councillor Maureen Bennison, who chaired the committee at that time, said that Cllr Gibson began to speak over the applicant’s solicitor and was becoming “argumentative”.
Ms Bennison told the hearing: “I was mortified. It was a public meeting and I didn’t want the licensing board brought into disrepute.”
