A COUNCILLOR is facing further disciplinary action over a "sustained campaign of intimidation, bullying and hostility" towards council officers.

Middlesbrough councillor Jon Rathmell, who represents Nunthorpe Ward, was found guilty of five breaches of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, and four of the Member/Officer Protocol.

At a meeting on Monday, March 19, the Standards (Hearings) Sub-Committee considered a report arising from an independent investigation undertaken by solicitor Linda Walker.

The report addressed six complaints covering allegations of bullying and intimidation, misuse of the council’s email system, lack of respect for fellow councillors and officers and the use of an anonymous Facebook page to leak sensitive information and damage the council’s reputation.

Following the meeting, Middlesbrough Council chief executive Tony Parkinson said it was the "worst behaviour I have seen from a publicly elected official in almost 30 years".

Cllr Rathmell did not attend, and the hearing took place in his absence.

Ms Walker found that in a ‘huge volume of emails’ with officers, Cllr Rathmell’s tone was often ‘critical’ and the content ‘personal and at times intimidatory’.

No evidence was found to support a sixth complaint that Cllr Rathmell was responsible for the anonymous Facebook page openly critical of the local authority.

Presenting her report to Monday’s (March 19) meeting, Ms Walker said: “There may be some issues that he is validly challenging, but the way in which he is doing it is not constructive.

“To be just bombarding officers with lots of challenging and critical emails and phone calls, that constant drip, drip, drip becomes quite intimidating.”

The report’s findings and recommendations were unanimously upheld by a panel consisting of three Labour and one Conservative members. An independent member from the MICA group of which Cllr Rathmell is a member chose not to attend.

They imposed the following sanctions on Cllr Rathmell:

• That he be required to apologise to the chief executive and another senior officer. Failure to do so within four weeks will result in a motion of formal censure put to full council, and a notice published in local media.

• That he undertake training on data protection and the responsible use of social media

• That he be offered mediation to address the breakdown in communication and relationships -  Cllr Rathmell’s existing communications plan will be updated to facilitate easier access to information and improve communication with officers, although current restrictions to protect officers will remain in place.

Following the hearing Mr Parkinson said: “It’s been said time and again that those involved in local politics can expect to engage in forthright debate and must be prepared for robust challenge.

“That includes the right to challenge the Council’s hard working officers constructively, while treating them with the respect to which they are entitled.

“Councillor Rathmell however has stepped so far beyond the bounds of reasonable behaviour that the authority is left with no choice but to take the only action available to it to protect those affected.

“This is the worst behaviour I have seen from a publicly elected official in almost 30 years of local government service.

“And for the avoidance of any doubt, these are not trivial matters and nor are those involved ‘fair game’ – this sustained pattern of what amounts to obsessive, abusive and degrading behaviour has had a severe impact on the health and well-being of a number of those involved and their families.

“That sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has no place in this or any other organisation.

“I would urge Cllr Rathmell to take on board the findings and recommendations of the independent investigator which are indisputable in their conclusions, as well as those of the previous independent investigation.

“It’s high time that he took a close look at the way he conducts himself – my offer of a face-to-face discussion with him remains open, and I hope it’s an offer he will take up.”

Last year, Cllr Rathmell was  banned from speaking to council staff in an attempt to protect them from “intimidation and disrespect”.