'Anonymous' councillor survey is anything but says councillor as form asks for age, length of service, area and more
A survey sent out to councillors in Northern Ireland purporting to be anonymous is actually anything but that.
That is the view of Gary Hynds, independent unionist Lisburn and Castlereagh councillor, who has complained that the survey asks for a wealth of information that could easily identify respondents.
It was sent out by the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) on behalf of the Commissioner for Standards, who investigates alleged breaches of councillors’ code of conduct.
The survey asked councillors about their knowledge of the commissioner’s guidance on the code of conduct.
It was sent with the message: “Responses are anonymous and every care will be taken to ensure no-one is identifiable in sharing the survey findings.”
It opens by asking councillors which council they belong to, if they are male or female, their age bracket, and how long they have been a councillor.
Then a section of the survey is for councillors who “have been involved in a process relating to an alleged breach of the code of conduct”, in which councillors are required to say if they have complained before, or been subject to complaints.
Councillor Hynds said: “It is being described as ‘anonymous’. However, when you actually go through it, it requests a significant amount of highly specific background information through mandatory fields before you can even properly complete the survey.
“From my point of view, the combination of questions could make it relatively easy to narrow down or identify individual respondents, particularly within councils where members may already be known for certain complaints, investigations, political positions or experiences.
"For example, it asks whether councillors have previously been investigated and what those investigations related to, alongside other identifying information.
"When all of that is combined, I do not believe many councillors would realistically feel confident that responses are genuinely anonymous in practice, regardless of how the survey is being presented.”
NIPSO responded: “Where we ask for people’s experiences of investigations or adjudications we are looking to see if people have been treated fairly, whether they were given enough information, and if the timescales were met.
"It is inaccurate to state we ask questions about what the investigation related to.
"In fact, respondents are specifically asked not to share any case specific information.
"In the event of any such information being shared this will be deleted.
"The questions on the respondent’s age, their council area, and their length of service are there to help us identify any useful demographic trends.
"The survey is entirely voluntary.
"All responses will be returned to our engagement team for analysis.
"Our investigations or adjudications teams will not have access to any data collected.
"Once the survey closes the responses will be collated and treated as a whole.
"This means they will not be analysed individually and respondents not identifiable.”
Councillor Hynds has himself been subject to three complaints.
Two weren’t upheld, and related to political views he had expressed on Gaza and the BBC licence fee.
Another complaint of "intimidatory" behaviour towards a senior council officer at a meeting was accepted.