Final Determination of Complaints relating to the meeting of Full Council held on 20th January 2010
Minutes:
Further to Minute No. 26/10 of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 17th December 2010, the Committee considered reports of the Investigating Officer on alleged failures by Former District Councillor Ms. Judy Marshall and District Councillors Mrs. Christine McDonald, Peter McDonald, Edward Murray, Sean Shannon and Colin Wilson to follow the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct.
The complaints concerned the Full Council meeting on 20th January 2010. The six Subject Councillors attended the meeting and did not declare an interest in an item of business relating to a transfer of funds from the Council's balances to cover the cost of retaining an external investigator to carry out investigations into complaints involving the six Subject Councillors' conduct.
The allegations were that the Subject Members had breached paragraph 9(1) of the Code in they failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest, and had breached paragraph 12(1) of the Code in that they had failed to withdraw from the debate in question.
Individual Subject Member reports of the Investigating Officer dated 10th January 2011 (revised reports for the hearing), which had found that all of the Subject Members had failed to follow the Code of Conduct in relation to the complaints, were considered. The Committee was asked to determine whether, based on the agreed Statement of Facts, the Investigating Officer's report and supporting documents and representations made at the hearing, the six Subject Councillors had breached the Code of Conduct and if so what sanction, if any, should be imposed.
An update report from the Monitoring Officer detailing changes designed to improve the constitution and procedures relating to Council meetings agreed at Full Council on 22nd June 2011 and recent cross-party discussions that had taken place into improving the public perception of the decision making process at the Council was circulated.
RESOLVED:
(a) that Former District Councillor Ms. Judy Marshall and District Councillors Mrs. Christine McDonald, Peter McDonald, Edward Murray, Sean Shannon and Colin Wilson had failed to follow the Code of Conduct by being in breach of Part 2 paragraph 9 (1) in that they had failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest, and paragraph 12 (1) in that they had failed to withdraw from the debate in question; and
(b) that in light of the nature of the breach of the Code no sanction be imposed.
(c) The Committee also acknowledged that the only sanction which would have been available as regards Former Councillor Ms. J. A. Marshall would have been censure because former Councillor Ms. J. A. Marshall was no longer a member of the Council at the time of the hearing.
(Copies of the Committee's full decisions, together with the reasons for the decisions, are appended.)