Agenda item

To consider a complaint of breach of the Code of Conduct received in respect of Parish Councillors and determine next steps.

Members considered a report which set out a Code of Conduct complaint received in respect of nine Parish Councillors.  Details of the complaint were presented in the private report referred to in Minute 5 above.

Members were asked to decide whether to:

A.  rule that the complaint is out of scope, or

B.  rule that the complaint is in scope and choose either to:

                     i)        take no further action

                    ii)        seek to resolve the matter informally, or

                  iii)        refer the matter for investigation.

Having considered all the information provided, and the advice of the Independent Person at the meeting, it was

Resolved: 

     i)        That, in respect of complaint one, option B(ii) be approved, and the matter be resolved informally by way of a written apology to the complainant. The panel also requested the deputy monitoring officer to write to the chair.

    ii)        That, in respect of complaint two, option A be approved.

Reason:     The Sub-Committee considered that, although the matter was capable of being a breach of the Code of Conduct, restitution could be achieved by returning the complainant to the position they would have been in, had the Parish Council acted in accordance with YLCA guidelines.