Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from C. Evans, Cllr R. James and Cllr G. Thomas.

There were no declarations of personal interest.

The Chair welcomed Councillor T. Davies and his representative Mr D. Daycock to the meeting, together with Ms K. Shaw and Ms S. Jones from the Office of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW).

The Committee, at its meeting of the Standards Committee held on 4^th August 2022, gave initial consideration to a report issued by the PSOW detailing the results of their investigation into allegations that Councillor Davies had breached the Members’ Code of Conduct for Llanelli Town Council, by way of inappropriate behaviour during an interaction with other members on 09 February 2021.  The PSOW’s investigation concluded that there was evidence to suggest that Councillor Davies failed to comply with the following provisions of the Code of Conduct:

·       4(a) – You must carry out your duties and responsibilities with due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of their gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion.

• 4(b) – You must show respect and consideration for others.

·       4(c) – You must not use bullying behaviour or harass another person.

·       6(1)(a) – You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer referred the Committee’s attention to the Standards Committee Hearing Procedure set out at Appendix 2 of the meeting documentation which required the Committee to determine the findings of fact and whether Councillor Davies’ conduct breached the Code of Conduct adopted by Llanelli Town Council, as suggested in the PSOW’s report. 

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that it should make its determinations based upon the evidence put before the Committee in the form of written and oral witness accounts, together with the legal submissions presented to the Committee and set out within the meeting documentation.  As confirmed at the Standards Committee meeting (Pre-Hearing Review) held on 17 November 2022, the undisputed facts were listed in paragraphs 46-55 of the PSOW report and the disputed facts were set out at paragraphs 56-61.

Ms K Shaw, Ombudsman’s Representative called four witnesses to provide oral evidence to the Committee in support of the PSOW investigation. Each witness verified to the Ombudsman’s Representative that their respective written statements, as set out in the PSOW’s report, provided a true and accurate account of the events that occurred on 09 February 2021.  All parties were then afforded the opportunity to further question the witnesses about their evidence.

With the Chair’s permission, Mr Daycock was also given an opportunity to question Ms Jones, the Ombudsman’s investigating officer, in relation to the conduct of her investigation in the light of Councillor Davies’ ill-health and personal circumstances at the time of his interview with her. 

The Chair, in accordance with the agreed procedure, thereupon invited Mr Daycock to present any evidence in support of Councillor Davies.   In this regard, Councillor Davies provided oral evidence to the Committee in support of his written statement set out Appendix 3 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

There were no items of urgent business to be considered.