Promotion of equality & respect : Mumbles Community Council

The Ombudsman received 2 complaints from the then-Chair of Mumbles Community Council (“the Council”) that a Former Councillor had breached the Council’s Code of Conduct.  It was alleged that the Former Councillor had submitted a series of vexatious complaints to my office which had been targeted against a small group of the Council’s members.  It was further alleged that the Former Councillor covertly recorded a confidential session of a Council meeting and offered to play the recording to a member of the public.

The Ombudsman found that the Former Councillor had made 9 complaints about Council members to her office in 7 months.  The Ombudsman considered none of the complaints to have merit, that some were frivolous while others were malicious and/or vexatious, which may amount to a breach of paragraph 6(1)(d) of the Council’s Code of Conduct.

The Ombudsman found that the Former Councillor recorded a confidential session of a Council meeting but concluded that no evidence had been provided that the Former Councillor had shared the recording with a member of the public.  However, the Former Councillor had messaged a member of the public and offered to play the recording for him, which may have brought her office and the Council into disrepute, suggestive of a breach of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Council’s Code of Conduct.

The Ombudsman concluded that the Former Councillor’s conduct may amount to breaches of paragraphs 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(d) of the Council’s Code of Conduct and referred her report to the Monitoring Officer of Swansea Council for consideration by its Standards Committee.

The Standards Committee decided that the Former Councillor had breached paragraphs 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(d) of the Code of Conduct.  It decided to censure the Former Councillor and noted that, had the Former Councillor remained a member of the Council, it would have suspended the Former Councillor for 6 months.