The Ombudsman received a complaint from the Former Clerk of Buckley Town Council (“the Council”) that a Member (“the Member”) of the Council had breached the Code of Conduct.
It was alleged that the Member had called for the Former Clerk’s resignation at a Council meeting which was attended by Councillors, staff and members of the public.
Our finding, under section 69 of the Local Government Act 2000, was that our report on our investigation be referred to the Monitoring Officer of Flintshire County Council for consideration by its Standards Committee.
The Standards Committee found that the Member had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct. Its sanction was to suspend the Member from the Relevant Authority, as set out in the Local Government Act 2000, for 6 months. The Standards Committee also made 4 recommendations for Town and Community Councils in Flintshire.
The Standards Committee decision is available here. This decision is subject to appeal.