Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee notes the contents of the guidance; and

(b)       That the Committee supports seeking the range of sanctions and flexibility that existed in England by writing to the Welsh Government.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented a report on sanctions guidance recently issued by the Adjudication Panel for Wales (APW) for use where a councillor was found to have breached the Members’ Code of Conduct by a case tribunal or an appeal tribunal.  The five purposes of the guidance were detailed along with the five stage approach to determining a sanction.

In recalling discussion at the Standards Conference, the Monitoring Officer explained that although only a small number of cases reached the tribunal stage, a broader range of appropriate sanctions was available for use in England.  Whilst the APW was unable to campaign for a change to legislation in Wales, it was possible that councils could make their own representations.  The Monitoring Officer advised that the introduction of the Local Government (Wales) Bill next year provided an opportunity to adopt such a change and that the Committee may wish to consider writing to the Welsh Government to make representations on this.

In moving this suggestion as an additional recommendation, Councillor Woolley said that providing panels with a greater range of options on sanctions could help to reduce the process.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee notes the contents of the guidance; and

(b)       That the Committee supports seeking the range of sanctions and flexibility that existed in England by writing to the Welsh Government.