The Monitoring Officer will report on any complaints received since the last meeting.
Minutes:
The Head of Law and Standards noted that there were several complaints to report to Committee, four of which were from Langstone Community Council. The Head of Law and Standards stated that three of the complaints were about a single Councillor with the first being that the Councillor had driven his car at the complainant in a country lane. The Head of Law and Standards noted that this did not meet the Ombudsman’s first test for investigation;
a) that there is no evidence that there has been a breach of the authority’s code of conduct;
Although there had been evidence provided to the police it was not also provided to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) and so it was determined that there was no evidence of a code of conduct breach.
The Head of Law and Standards noted that the second complaint was regarding a misleading written statement to appeal a Planning Decision for Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, but added that there was no investigation due to the complaint not meeting the first test that the PSOW applies.
The Head of Law and Standards stated that the third complaint had been that the Councillor had passed information to a friend to be posted on social media stating that they had driven a car at the complainant’s daughter, and the police had been called. The Head of Law and Standards explained that the Ombudsman had found no evidence to substantiate a code breach and added that on two of the occasions raised the person in question had not been a Community Councillor at the time.
The Head of Law and Standards explained to the Committee that the fourth complaint had been about another member who had allegedly written a misleading statement in relation to an appeal for Planning and Environment Decisions Wales; this compliant had also failed to pass the Ombudsman’s first stage test and so there had been no further investigation. The Head of Law and Standards confirmed that this concluded the Community Council complaints.
The Head of Law and Standards stated that there had been a complaint about City Council regarding the criminal conviction of a former City Councillor who had been referred by the Monitoring Officer to the Ombudsman on two grounds. The Head of Law and Standards noted that firstly the former City Councillor’s criminal Conviction had brought the Council and their office into disrepute, and secondly that they had made comments on a Scrutiny Committee to gain an advantage for themself. The Head of Law and Standards stated that the PSOW investigated the matters and found that the criminal convictions may amount to a breach of conduct and so it had been referred to the Adjudication Panel for Wales. The Head of Law and Standards noted that the claim that the former Councillor had used their position to gain advantages for themself had not been upheld. The Head of Law and Standards stated that the Adjudication Panel for Wales issued a unanimous decision that the nature of the criminal offence and the publicity surrounding it had reflected poorly on the former Councillor and their office and had brought the Council into disrepute. The Head of Law and Standards noted that the sanction had been a disqualification of the former Councillor for 9 months, preventing them from service Newport City Council or any other local authority, and that the Standards Committee must be notified.
The Committee queried the total amount of time the complaint process had taken for the Community Council complaints from start to finish and if there was a time difference between the length of time the PSOW took to consider complaints about the Community Councillors and the City Councillors.
The Head of Law and Standards noted that complaints against Community Councillors are made by member of the public so the Council are not aware when the complaints are made and are only notified of the decision but added that in her experience they often take a long time as PSOW would consider high volumes of complaints due to the number of Principle and Community Councils across Wales.
The Chair noted that the Committee are at a disadvantage due to the complaints being sent straight to the PSOW but considered the outcome of the decision to be the most important part, further noting that the Committee would not be able to affect or change the running of the Ombudsman.
Committee Members considered that it would be unpleasant for the Councillors to have the complaints hanging over them.
The Head of Law and Standards explained that where there is no evidence for the Ombudsman these claims are more likely to be dealt with fairly quickly and noted that in cases where there is evidence, they are likely to take more time due to the investigation process.
A Committee Member queried the former City Councillor’s ban as mentioned by the Head of Law and Standards and asked when this would begin from.
The Head of Law and Standards noted that it was from the date of the decision but added that she would confirm this. The Head of Law and Standards stated that they were no longer a Councillor and explained that the tribunal had most likely taken this into account when making their decision.
The Chair noted that when they had dealt with a complaint at Standards Committee in the past the sanction had taken place from the end of the business day that the decision had been made.
Resolved:
The Committee noted the verbal update.