Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with local government to tackle abuse faced by women working in local government.

This government is clear there is no place in local government for bullying, intimidation or harassment, including abuse faced by women. Such behaviour causes great personal distress to those affected, particularly as the current local government standards and conduct framework lacks effective sanctions to hold perpetrators to account.

In December we launched a consultation seeking views on proposals that will apply to all types and tiers of local authorities in England to strengthen the standards and conduct framework, including proposals to introduce the sanction of suspension. We are now in the process of analysing the responses to the consultation, and the Government Response will be issued in due course.

We also continue to fund the Local Government Association’s sector support offer, including its Civility in Public Life programme, which offers training for councillors related to personal safety, handling abuse, and intimidation online.