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Working environments plagued by abuse and bullying would leave private sector organisations drowning in the serious employment and legal repercussions.But for local government senior officers the reality is a sanctions-light approach that leaves little or no protection from a growing culture of hostility both within councils and from wider society including social media.This is the grim picture painted in the report from the Solace Commission on Professional Standards and Ethics, due for launch at the Solace Summit in Liverpool this week.Despite promises of legislative reform to the standards regime under Keir Starmer that would have included giving councils powers to suspend councillors and mayors for serious misconduct for up to six months and withhold allowances for poor behaviour, nothing emerged in the most recent King's Speech.But the mood music may be about to change.The report emerges a week on from a senior figure at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government telling The MJ that sector pressure for reforms to standards is huge and that while ‘nothing is yet concrete', there is a commitment to pushing legislation through, subject to space in Parliament.Set up last July, the commission has gathered evidence from a wide range of contributors, much of it deeply personal in nature. The report includes evidence that women and people from minoritised groups experience more targeted forms of abuse.But the report makes clear that poor behaviour by councillors and the public is impacting on staff of all backgrounds and that inappropriate behaviour ‘also takes place within groups too, such as between elected members or between officers'. Many councillors are ‘experiencing poor behaviour from members of the public as well as from other councillors'.The key recommendations in the report for government include working with the sector to ‘co-design and implement an effective, efficient, modernised standards regime for local government', as well as a nationally prescribed code of conduct. It also calls for sustainable and long-term funding for the operation of the strengthened system. The recommendations include a call to set up and promote peer support arrangements for chief executives/senior officers facing standards-related challenges and the appointment of a whistleblowing champion to work closely with the monitoring officer and head of audit.Sanctions so far have fallen far short of what is needed, says the commission's chair and Solace group board chair Kath O'Dwyer. Speaking to The MJ, she says: ‘We all know we've got a system that isn't working. It hasn't got sufficient teeth.'On the biggest recommendation for the Government to introduce a stronger standards system, she adds: ‘We know that they're up for that. They've already acknowledged that.'She continues: ‘But, from a Solace point of view we want to get to a position where it [poor behaviour] can be prevented, rather than people having to go through it and deal with the aftermath of it.'The commission heard evidence from director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham Jason Lowther of the experience of ‘challenger parties' including Reform UK entering local government. His research highlights a period of adjustment to formal governance structures, variations in member-officer relationships and risks associated with political instability and high turnover.O'Dwyer is adamant councils have a duty to step up and help. ‘We've seen a lot of inexperienced councillors coming into local government over the last 12 or 18 months. But we've got a role to try to help with that. So proper induction [is required] right at the front end, not six months in.'‘What we're seeing is people in new parties or new arrangements where that depth of experience and respect isn't embedded. So there is really something I think we councils can do about induction. It's almost got to be a norm, and we must give ourselves a shake on that.'There is an urgent need for a new standards regime ‘if we really want to prevent a serious incident or a haemorrhaging of people from the system', she adds.Local government reorganisation ‘will happen in some way, shape or form, and will cause real workforce challenges, she points out. ‘But it's an even bigger challenge if we don't signal to the sector that these issues are being taken seriously and actions being taken.'She concludes: ‘One of the things we heard repeatedly, particularly from chief executives, was the behaviour you walk past, you condone.' Solace, working alongside partners, is bringing all the pressure it can bear to ensure the robust standards regime required to deliver that is implemented urgently.Extracts from evidence given to the commission‘I have been undermined in formal meetings by the council leader. A senior member wished in writing to all other members that I and my family would suffer from cancer and an unpleasant death.'‘Monitoring officers are challenged with dealing with such behaviours and they become part of the witch hunt for trying to bring them into line with standards and officer/member protocols'‘I was systematically targeted by a member of the public. I think the council didn't know quite how to handle it'The Solace Summit 2026 takes place on 21–22 October at the Liverpool Experience Campus

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Local government: Time for tougher standards to deal with abuse and bullying

By Ann McGauran | 21 October 2026

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