The Ombudsman received a self-referral from a Member (“the Member”) of Conwy County Borough Council (“the Council”) that he had breached the Code of Conduct (“the Code”). The self-referral related to a failure to update the Members’ Register of Interests.
The Ombudsman determined that an investigation was appropriate and that paragraph 15 of the Code should be considered.
The investigation found that the Member became a member of a political party and, subsequently, there was a period of around 7 months in which the Member did not update his Register of Interests to declare such a membership. The Ombudsman’s guidance on the Code clearly sets out members must include in their Register of Interests any membership of a political party. The Ombudsman considered, therefore, that the Member’s failure to update his Register of Interests was suggestive of a breach of the Code.
In considering whether a referral to a Standards Committee or the Adjudication Panel for Wales was required in the public interest, the Ombudsman had regard to a number of public interest factors. She took into account the Member’s conduct in self-referring to this office and in accepting and acknowledging the error he had made. The Member has offered apologies for his actions and resigned from the Cabinet in recognition of his poor conduct. The Member co-operated fully with the investigation. There was no evidence that the Member’s undeclared political party membership had an impact on the decisions taken by the Cabinet during the time it was undeclared.
In these circumstances, on balance, it was not considered to be in the public interest for any referral to be made to the Standards Committee in respect of the failing identified. However, the Ombudsman does not condone the Member’s conduct and considered that the proportionate action is for the Member to undertake training on the Code, particularly in relation to personal and prejudicial interests and his obligation to ensure his interests are properly recorded on the Council’s Register of Interests. The Ombudsman recommended that the Member undertake such training within 3 months of the date of this decision.
Under Section 69(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 2000, the Ombudsman determined that no action needs to be taken in respect of the matters investigated.