Civic Honours Or The Old Mates Club? Sandwell’s Honorary Alderman Farce

 

Civic Honours Or The Old Mates Club? Sandwell’s Honorary Alderman Farce

Sandwell Council has an Extraordinary Full Council meeting at 6pm on 28 July 2026.

Only four items.

Apologies.
Declarations.
Then two nominations for Honorary Alderman.

And frankly, Items 3 and 4 should make anyone who cares about civic standards sit up and ask what on earth is going on.

Honorary Alderman status is supposed to mean something. It is supposed to recognise eminent or notable service to the borough. It should be a serious civic honour — not a retirement badge, not a political favour, not a cosy nod to old mates, and certainly not a way of polishing awkward history until it shines under the chamber lights.

Yet here we are.

Item 3 — Steve Melia

Steve Melia has been nominated by Cllr Ray Nock, supported by Cllr Bob Jones. The report cites his years of service, his time as Mayor in 2025/26, and his work around the Royal British Legion and remembrance events.

That is the council’s sanitised version.

Here is the bit the report does not properly grapple with.

Steve Melia pleaded guilty to assault at Dudley Magistrates’ Court in February 2022. He was conditionally discharged for 12 months and ordered to pay costs and compensation. LocalGov reported that he assaulted a blogger by knocking a phone from his hands. (LocalGov)

The Express & Star reported that the incident involved blogger Julian Saunders, known as the Sandwell Skidder, and took place outside Sandwell Council House in Oldbury. (Express & Star)

So let us spell this out.

Sandwell councillors are being asked to confer Honorary Alderman status on a man convicted of assaulting a member of the public outside the very building where they now want to honour him.

You could not make it up.

The Mayoralty was already sullied, in my view, when Melia was elevated to that office despite this background. Now the council is being asked to go one better and hand him another civic title.

No.

Absolutely not.

Long service is not the same as honour.

Sitting in the chamber for years does not wipe away conduct that damaged public confidence. Remembrance work may be worthy, but it does not erase the obvious question: should someone with that public record be handed one of Sandwell’s civic honours?

The report says there are no direct risk implications.

Really?

No reputational risk?
No public confidence risk?
No civic standards risk?
No risk in telling residents that assaulting a member of the public outside Council House can be followed, a few years later, by ceremonial honour inside Council House?

This is not a risk assessment. It is civic whitewash.

If Honorary Alderman status means anything, this nomination should be rejected.

Not deferred.
Not “noted”.
Not nodded through with a few warm speeches and civic biscuits.

Rejected.

Item 4 — Robert White

Robert White has been nominated by Cllr Ray Nock, supported by Cllr Gary Dale. The report says he served as a councillor for 16 years and points to a 1992 motion on disability and equal opportunities.

Fine. That may be a worthy piece of history.

But where is the evidence pack?

Where is the original motion?
Where is the explanation of what changed because of it?
Where is the impact assessment?
Where is the comparison with other former councillors?
Why now?
Why this nominee?
Why this moment?

The report gives councillors a few lines and expects them to confer a civic honour.

That is not scrutiny. That is a polite little conveyor belt.

There is also a further issue. If, as I understand locally, Robert White is a personal friend of Leader Ray Nock, then that relationship should be declared openly before the vote.

This is not just about whether the law technically requires it.

It is about public confidence.

If the Leader is nominating a personal friend for Honorary Alderman status, residents should be told before councillors vote — not left to work it out afterwards.

Honorary Alderman should not become Sandwell’s old mates club.

There are former councillors across the borough who have given years of service, ward work, community graft, casework, civic duty and quiet commitment without needing a political sponsor to pull their name out of the drawer.

So again: why Robert White, why now, and who else was considered?

The bigger problem

Both reports are thin.

No proper background documents.
No public consultation.
No real risk assessment.
No fuller evidence.
No comparative criteria.
No explanation of who was considered and who was not.

Just a couple of nominations, a few civic paragraphs, and the usual Sandwell assumption that councillors should nod along.

That is exactly how honours get cheapened.

Honorary Alderman status should be reserved for people whose service brings honour to Sandwell.

It should not be used for old mates.

And it certainly should not be used for a man convicted of assaulting a member of the public outside the very chamber where he is now being lined up for applause.

Sandwell Council needs to decide what its civic honours are worth.

Because if this goes through, the message is grim:

Serve long enough.
Know the right people.
Ride out the scandal.
Wait for the chain to be polished.
Collect your honour.

No thanks.

Do not sully the role of Honorary Alderman.

Reject Steve Melia.

Defer Robert White until there is a proper evidence pack and any personal association with the Leader is declared.

#Sandwell #SandwellCouncil #SteveMelia #RobertWhite #HonoraryAlderman #RayNock #Governance #CivicHonours #PublicConfidence #StandardsInPublicLife #LocalGovernment #SandwellPolitics