The Ombudsman received 2 complaints that a Member (“the Member”) of Porthcawl Town Council (“the Council”) breached the Code of Conduct.
It was alleged by the first complainant that the Member had used racial slurs and disrespectful language towards other members of the Council on social media.
It was alleged by the second complainant the Member had used disrespectful language towards the Former Clerk on social media and had refused to apologise at a Council meeting.
Our finding, under section 69 of the Local Government Act 2000, was that our report on our investigation be referred to the Monitoring Officer of Bridgend County Borough Council for consideration by its Standards Committee.
The Standards Committee found that the Member had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct. Its sanction was to suspend the Member from the Relevant Authority, as set out in the Local Government Act 2000, for 2 months. The Member did not appeal the decision.
The Standards Committee’s decision is available here.