The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of Flintshire County Council (“the Council”) and Connah’s Quay Town Council (“the Town Council”) breached the Code of Conduct.
It was alleged that the Member had made inappropriate sexualised comments to a vulnerable member of the public, bullied Council Officers, disclosed confidential information, abused his position of trust and failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest.
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 suspend the Member from the Relevant Authorities, as set out in the Local Government Act 2000, for 4 months.
The Case Tribunal’s decision is available here. The Member did not appeal the decision.