The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of the Vale of Glamorgan Council (“the Council”) had breached the Code of Conduct.
The investigation considered whether the Member failed to comply with Paragraphs 4(b),4(c), 6(1)(a) and 7(1)(a). The investigation considered evidence from the Council. Witnesses provided witness evidence. The Member was interviewed.
The investigation found that the evidence was not suggestive of a breach of paragraphs 7(a).
The investigation found that the Member failed to show respect and consideration towards a member of staff at the Council, in particular in correspondence he made via email and telephone. The Ombudsman found that the Member’s conduct was suggestive of a breach of paragraphs 4(b), 4(c) and 6(1)(a) of the Code.
The report on the investigation was referred to the Deputy Monitoring Officer of the Council for consideration by the local Standards Committee.
The Council’s Standards Committee found that the Member had failed to comply with paragraphs 4(b), 4(c) and 6(1)(a). The Standards Committee decided to suspend the Member for 2 months and recommended that the Member undertake training on the Code of Conduct. The decision of the Standards Committee is subject to an appeal to the Adjudication Panel for Wales.