The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (“the Council”) had breached the Code of Conduct (“the Code”).
It was alleged that the Member failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest during Council meetings held on 27 February and 8 March 2023, during agenda items relating to the Council’s budget and decisions about funding for schools. It was alleged that the Member should have declared an interest in these meetings as the decisions being made may have impacted on her employment. It was also alleged that the Member failed to declare her employment on her register of interests.
The matter was initially dealt with under the Council’s Local Resolution Protocol (“LRP”). LRPs are informal and there is no statutory basis for them. They are intended to deal with low level and trivial complaints between members. As this was a complaint relating to a failure to disclose interests, the Ombudsman considered that it was not appropriate for consideration under the Council’s LRP and should not have been put before the Standards Committee in the manner it was.
The Ombudsman therefore investigated the complaint and reached her own finding on this matter, in accordance with the powers granted to her under the Local Government Act 2000. Information was obtained from the Council, including relevant minutes of meetings and reports. The complainant was interviewed as part of the investigation and information was obtained from the Member’s employer.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the Member was the Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Education. The Member had recorded her employment on her register of interest, in compliance with the Code. The Member’s employment was within the field of Education and involved co-ordinating agency supply positions across several areas, including Merthyr Tydfil. The Member did not declare a personal or prejudicial interest during the Council meetings held on 27 February and 8 March 2023. It was considered that, on balance, when considered objectively, the Member’s employment meant that she had a prejudicial interest in the issue of funding for schools and that she should have declared her interest during those meetings and that her failure to do so was a breach of the Code.
Had the Member declared a personal and prejudicial interest during the meeting on 8 March, the motion may not have passed. However, her vote was unlikely to benefit her personally and as such the evidence did not suggest that her failure to preclude herself from the discussion and vote was a deliberate attempt to influence the vote. The Ombudsman accepted the Member’s explanation that she had not recognised a need to declare an interest.
The Member accepted, with hindsight, that she had an interest in the matter and has taken corrective action to ensure her understanding of the requirements of the Code and appropriate application of interests in future. This demonstrates her commitment to abide by the requirements of the Code and should prevent a similar future occurrence. It was also noted that the Member co-operated fully with the investigation. For these reasons, the Ombudsman considered it was not in the public interest to refer this matter to the Standards Committee or Adjudication Panel for Wales, as a sanction is unlikely to be imposed. The Ombudsman’s finding therefore was that no action needed to be taken in respect of the matters investigated.