The Ombudsman undertook an investigation against a Member (“the Member”) of Pembrokeshire County Council (“the Council”) to consider whether the Member misled him during the course of an ongoing investigation.
The Ombudsman considered whether the Member may have breached paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct (“the Code”).
The Member had been interviewed as a witness in an ongoing investigation. Following his initial interview, information was sought from third parties which indicated that the information provided by the Member at interview was incorrect. The Member was subsequently interviewed on a second occasion and as there appeared to be discrepancies in the information provided by the Member, the Ombudsman began an investigation.
The Member provided a full statement to the Ombudsman in response to the allegation. The Ombudsman accepted the explanations provided by the Member regarding the discrepancies in his 2 interviews. Although the Ombudsman considered that the Member could have been more clear in his interviews, he did not consider that there was a deliberate attempt on the Member’s part to provide misleading information during the investigation. Therefore, the Ombudsman found no evidence of a breach of paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct.