The Ombudsman received a complaint that a Member (“the Member”) of Cardiff Council (“the Council”) had breached the Code of Conduct.
It was alleged that the Member had included the names of her fellow ward councillors to a letter to the Council’s licensing committee, objecting to an application from a local takeaway business to extend its opening hours, without asking them. The Complainant alleged that the Member acted dishonestly, in order to give the objection letter greater credibility. The Ombudsman determined that investigation was appropriate and that paragraphs 6(1)(a) and 7(a) of the Code should be considered.
We obtained contemporaneous evidence that the Member had discussed whether to object with her fellow councillors before sending the objection letter. The other councillors confirmed that they were happy for her to have included their names to the objection. They also confirmed that when the applicant appealed the licensing committee’s decision, the Member had checked again whether they wanted to continue to object, which they had.
Therefore there was no evidence that the Member had breached the Code.