The Ombudsman received a complaint that a member (“the Member”) of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (“the Council”) may have breached the Code of Conduct. It was alleged that the Member became involved in the Complainant’s planning application despite being advised not to by the Council’s legal team.
During the investigation, we were informed by the Complainant that he wished to withdraw his complaint. In determining whether it would be in the public interest to continue with the investigation a number of factors were considered, specifically that the Member does not have a history of similar complaints, the Complainant’s wishes, and that the impact in this case of the Member’s actions did not extend beyond involvement in matters related to the Complainant and did not negatively impact the public, or raise wider matters of concern.
It also remained unclear the extent of the impact that the Member’s involvement had on the planning application, given that approval was granted and it was continuing to progress.
Therefore, it was decided to discontinue the investigation.