Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Andrew Thomas and Independent Member Julia Hughes.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent matters.

To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy attached). The report is about an investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales into a complaint that a Prestatyn Town Council councillor may have breached the Code of Conduct of the Town Council.

Introduction

The Chair, Ian Trigger, asked for introductions from around the table and explained the procedure for the day. The Chair also advised that is was a public meeting and a simultaneous translation service had been provided.

There were potentially four stages to the hearing:

      I.        Stage 1 – preliminary procedural issues;

    II.        Stage 2 – consideration of any  disputed facts;

   III.        Stage 3 – decision made on whether on the basis of the facts found,there has been a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct;

  IV.        Decision on what sanction to be taken (if any).

Additional information in the form of a copy of the Livingstone v Adjudication Panel England case (October 2006). The Chair asked the Committee to read the paper overnight.

The Chair advised the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ (PSOW) solicitor (Mrs A Ginwalla) and Prestatyn Town Councillor Peter Duffy’s solicitor (Mr J Owens) that Denbighshire County & Prestatyn Town Councillor Paul Penlington (the complainant) was a member of the Standards Committee but the matter of complaint had not been heard at any of the meetings he had attended.

Mr Owens asked that the meetings being considered be referred to with a small “m” as they had not been official public meetings. The PSOW solicitor and Standards Committee Chair agreed.

There being no preliminary issues short opening statements were invited from both sides.

Consideration of any significant disagreements about facts.

Mrs Ginwalla referred to the PSOW’s report in the confidential bundle (previously circulated), setting out the complaint from Councillor Paul Penlington regarding Councillor Peter Duffy’s behaviour towards him on a number of occasions.

Two of the events were investigated. The incidents on 2 November 2016 and 11 May 2017 were set out in the report and evidenced gathered from a random selection of witnesses.

The PSOW had determined that on the balance of probability that Councillor Duffy’s behaviour on the 2 November 2016 had been beyond a level considered reasonable and had potentially been personal abuse. There had also been evidence that Councillor Duffy had said something personal (although there was some disparity as to what witnesses heard) to Councillor Penlington at a meeting on 11 May 2017.

The Committee were advised by the Chair (IT) that Prestatyn Town Councillor Martyn Poller had provided a witness statement to the PSOW previously but would not be attending in person and did not want it to be relied on as evidence. Mrs Ginwalla confirmed that was the case but Councillor Poller’s statement and contemporaneous notes from the meeting on 11 May 2017 had been agreed as an accurate record and considered as part of the PSOW’s deliberations. The same was true for the witness statement of Prestatyn Town Councillor Sandilands. Councillor Sandilands had not withdrawn his statement but had declined to attend the hearing.

Mr Owens informed the Committee that Councillor Duffy had approached him as a long standing Councillor seeking advice on the response from the PSOW regarding complaints made about his behaviour in addition to the contradictory and factually incorrect witness statements.

Witnesses who had previously made statements for the PSOW were invited to give their evidence to the hearing. There would be an opportunity for both sides and Committee members to ask questions supplementing witness’ statements.

When introducing each witness Mrs Ginwalla asked each of them to confirm  that they had had the opportunity to review their statement;  that they had signed a statement of truth and asked whether any amendments were required (none were).

Witness evidence was heard in the following order from:

·         Peter Gaffey – Anti Social Behaviour Officer

·         Carol Evans – Assistant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.