Agenda and draft minutes

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received. The Chairman noted that some of the Members of this Committee were present at the Executive meeting on 23 March 2023.

Purpose: To make a determination as to whether a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred after considering the Investigator’s report about a complaint received from the then Councillor Lynne Doherty (Complainant) in respect of Councillor Adrian Abbs (Subject Member) from West Berkshire Council submitted on 29 March 2023.

Should the Committee determine that a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred they will need to determine an appropriate sanction.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 3) concerning a complaint regarding an alleged breach of the West Berkshire Council (WBC) Code of Conduct.

The Committee was required to determine whether a breach of the Code had occurred after considering the Investigator’s report about a complaint received from the then Councillor Lynne Doherty (Complainant) in respect of Councillor Adrian Abbs (Subject Member) from West Berkshire Council submitted on 29 March 2023.

Should the Committee determine that a breach of the Code had occurred they would need to determine an appropriate sanction.

Presentation from Independent Investigator

The Independent Investigator, Mr Richard Lingard, presented his report and highlighted the following points:

·         He clarified that this was the final version of his report. The reference to ‘draft’ was in error. The report would be amended prior to publication on the Council’s website.

·         There was no material dispute of the facts of the case. The proceedings took place in a public meeting and the meeting was livestreamed.

·         Mrs Doherty had expressed the view that the behaviour of Councillor Abbs amounted to three breaches of the Council’s Code of Conduct. Namely lack of respect, bullying and bringing the Council into disrepute. Mr Lingard did not consider any other aspect of the Code.

·         He interviewed both Mrs Doherty and Councillor Abbs, and the findings from the interviews were contained within the report.

·         Mr Lingard had further explored whether the contention of Councillor Abbs that he had no opportunity for debate was correct. He consulted Nicola Thomas, the Deputy Monitoring Officer, who advised him that Councillor Abbs would have been given the opportunity to ask a supplementary question of the then Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter.

·         Mr Lingard agreed that Councillor Abbs had been disrespectful to Councillor Ardagh-Walter. He also formed the view that Councillor Doherty did not handle the situation as well as she might have done in the circumstances.

·         Mr Lingard’s draft report had been shared with Mrs Doherty and Councillor Abbs for comment prior to it being finalised. Mr Lingard took on board the feedback from Mrs Doherty and, on balance, agreed that Councillor Abbs had been disrespectful to her as well as Councillor Ardagh-Walter. Councillor Abbs had raised this change of position as a matter of concern and in response Mr Lingard advised that the sharing of the draft report allowed for amendments to be made if felt appropriate. He added that the reflection of this point did not change the outcome of his report.

·         Mr Lingard did not find evidence of bullying by Councillor Abbs and did not agree that he had brought the Council into disrepute.

Questions of Mr Lingard

Mr Lingard made the following points in response to questions from Committee Members:

·         In response to a question relating to the ability to enter into debate or ask questions, Mr Lingard made clear the point raised by Councillor Abbs that he felt unable to ask further questions or continue an exchange of views.

·         Mr Lingard did consider and observe that tensions were building  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.