Concerns raised over behaviour at town council meetings

Lewis Smith, local democracy reporter

Concerns have been raised over the standard of meetings and behaviour at a town council based in Neath Port Talbot.

Briton Ferry Town Council was observed in January 2025, with reports of “raised voices” and “disrespect” between councillors that was said to have been seen constantly throughout a meeting.

The report was discussed by a county borough council standards committee on April 7, where members and officers heard how a co-opted member had attended a full council meeting for Briton Ferry Town Council.

The report said there were “serious concerns around the behaviour of some councillors” at the meeting, with interventions needed by the chair who had to ask on several occasions for one voice at a time.

‘Lack of respect’

One section of the report said there was a “lack of respect noted on several occasions” with councillors interrupting each other while speaking, and constantly revisiting issues that members did not agree with.

The member who carried out the observation said that given someone from the committee was in attendance, she would have expected people to have behaved with more respect towards each other.

She added that while there were a lot of positives, and it was clear those in attendance were passionate about the council’s work, when boundaries were crossed the meeting became very difficult to manage.

Part of the report read: “Examples are interrupting other members when speaking, raised voices and constantly revisiting issues that members did not
agree with (arguing what had been said in previous meetings). Whilst a young council member was discussing her report, the councillor who continually interrupted told her to slow down – this was addressed by deputy town clerk, who remained professional throughout the meeting.”

Feedback

Speaking after the report, councillor Wayne Carpenter of Neath East said that there was a need to “observe very closely what happens in the future” after some individuals had told him they were ill before going to the town council’s meetings.

Officers said that following the meeting the leader had apologised for the behaviour of some of the members, highlighting that feedback would now be shared with the town council, with additional training offered.