Issue - meetings

The report of the Monitoring Officer sets out an allegation made by way of a complaint against a Borough Councillor concerning a potential breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Assessment Panel is asked to make a determination in respect of whether or not any action should be taken.

The Panel considered the report of the Monitoring Officer setting out an allegation by way of a complaint received from a councillor in respect of  Councillor G.

The Monitoring Officer presented detailed information about the nature of the complaint and preliminary enquiries and discussion with the Independent Person consulted by way of background to the current complaint.

The Panel then went on to consider the options open to it:

(a)      the Panel is able to ask the Monitoring Officer to direct that the complaints are investigated;

(b)      to direct the Monitoring Officer to take other appropriate action short of a formal investigation, for instance trying to secure an apology;

(c)       alternatively the Panel can decide to take no action in respect of the complaints; this may be where the complaint appears to be trivial, vexatious, malicious, politically motivated or tit-for-tat.

The Panel considered option (c), to take no action, and decided that this was appropriate bearing in mind that evidence provided was not sufficiently substantial and serious to warrant further investigation as there was no potential to be a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

In considering option (a), to direct that the complaint is investigated, the Panel considered that there was no potential for a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct to have occurred.

Resolved:

1.    To take no further action.

The report of the Monitoring Officer sets out an allegation made by way of a complaint against a Borough Councillor concerning a potential breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Assessment Panel is asked to make a determination in respect of whether or not any action should be taken.

The Panel considered the report of the Monitoring Officer setting out an allegation by way of a complaint received from a Councillor about Councillor C.

The Monitoring Officer detailed the circumstances which had led to this complaint.

The Panel went on to consider the complaint having regard to the Assessment Criteria and considered whether there had been a breach of the Members Code of Conduct.

The Panel then went on to consider the options open to it:

(a)      the Panel is able to ask the Monitoring Officer to direct that the complaint is investigated;

(b)      to direct the Monitoring Officer to take other appropriate action short of a formal investigation, for instance trying to secure an apology;

(c)       alternatively the Panel can decide to take no action in respect of the complaint; this may be where the complaint appears to be trivial, vexatious, malicious, politically motivated or tit-for-tat.

In considering option (a), to direct that the complaint is investigated, the Panel decided that the complaint did not warrant a full investigation. In considering option (b) the Panel felt that there had not been a potential breach of the Members Code of Conduct and that no further action needed to be taken.

The Panel agreed to take no action. It considered that Councillor C made their comments during a robust political debate and that Members had the right to speak to Developers without fear of reprisals.

Resolved that no further action was necessary.