The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Former Member (“the Former Member”) of Ceredigion County Council (“the County Council”) and Aberystwyth Town Council (“the Town Council”) breached the Code of Conduct. It was alleged that the Former Member had been involved in a number of separate incidents of inappropriate harassing and stalking behaviour towards women. Our finding, under section 69 of the Local Government Act 2000, was that our report on our investigation be referred to the President of the Adjudication Panel for Wales, for adjudication by a tribunal.
The Tribunal found that the Former Member had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct. Its sanction was to disqualify the Former Member from being a member of any Relevant Authority, as set out in the Local Government Act 2000, for 3 years.
The Case Tribunal’s decision is available here.
This decision is subject to appeal.