English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
ONE RULE A DAY: SEMI-COORDINATION
Dr GAB with his colleagues ~are~ attending a conference in Oxford next week (nonstandard).
Dr GAB with his colleagues is attending a conference in Oxford next week (standard).
The couple as well as their neighbours ~was~ involved (nonstandard).
The couple as well as their neighbours were involved (standard).
When semi-coordinating conjunctions such as “with, together with, as well as, in association with, in collaboration with” join two nouns or pronouns in the subject position of a sentence, the first noun or pronoun to be mentioned controls the verb.
GAB
Yes, when a collective noun does not perform an action, it is considered singular.
‘A couple’ meaning two persons who persons who are married’ can be treated as singular or plural. Be that as it may, one would think that the expression: ‘The couple as well as their neighbours was…’ should be a standard one.