The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of Newport City Council (“the Council”) had breached the Code of Conduct.
It was alleged that during a telephone call to the Council’s Customer Contact Centre the Member had made discriminatory comments to a Council employee about the way the employee managed the call.
The investigation considered whether the Member had failed to comply with the following provisions of the Code of Conduct:
- 4(a) – Members must carry out their duties and responsibilities with due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of their gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion.
- 4(b) – Members must show respect and consideration for others.
- 6(1)(a) – Members must not conduct themselves in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing their office or authority into disrepute.
The investigation considered information from the Council, including a recording of the telephone call. 2 witness accounts were obtained and the Member was interviewed. The Member acknowledged her conduct and said she deeply regretted what had happened.
The Member’s freedom of expression under Article 10 of the ECHR and relevant caselaw were considered throughout the investigation.
The investigation found that whilst Members have a duty to question and scrutinise officers, the Member’s comments to the employee were unwarranted and discriminatory and had the potential to adversely affect the employee’s rights and reputation regarding her capabilities for her role and her job security.
The Ombudsman concluded that the Member’s conduct fell short of the standards expected of elected members and was suggestive of a breach of paragraphs 4(a) and 4(b) of the Code of Conduct. The Ombudsman concluded that the Member had not acted in a way which was suggestive of a breach of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct.
Our finding, under section 69 of the Local Government Act 2000, was that our report on our investigations be referred to the Deputy Monitoring Officer of Newport City Council for consideration by its Standards Committee.
The Standards Committee found that the Member had failed to comply with the paragraphs 4(b), 4(c), it also found the Member had failed to comply with paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code. Its sanction was to censure the Member.
This decision is subject to appeal.