Introducing the Civility and Respect Pledge
SLCC, NALC, and OVW believe now is the time to put civility and respect at the top of the agenda and start a culture change for the local council sector.
There is no place for bullying, harassment, and intimidation within our sector and signing up to the Civility and Respect Pledge is one of the ways a council can demonstrate that it is committed to standing up to poor behaviour across our sector, and to demonstrating positive changes which support civil and respectful conduct.
By signing the Pledge, your council is agreeing that it will treat councillors, clerks, employees, members of the public, and representatives of partner organisations and volunteers with civility and respect in their roles, and that it:
- has put in place a training programme for councillors and staff
- has signed up to the Code of Conduct for councillors
- has good governance arrangements in place including staff contracts and a Dignity at Work policy
- will seek professional help at early stages should civility and respect issues arise
- will commit to calling out bullying and harassment if and when it happens
- will continue to learn from best practice in the sector and aspire to being a role model / champion council e.g., via Local Council Award Scheme
- supports the continued lobbying for change in legislation to support the civility and respect, including sanctions for elected members where appropriate
We invite all councils to include an agenda item to review the statements and sign up to the Civility and Respect Pledge. Click here for an example agenda item for the pledge.
Click here to watch a short video about the Civility and Respect Pledge.
Click on the orange button below to sign up for the pledge,and view the map to see which councils have already signed.
