Issue - meetings

The Sub-Committee considered a report by the Monitoring Officer on a complaint received alleging that Brickendon Liberty Parish Councillors J Lambie and L Kotting had breached their Authority’s Code of Conduct.

The Monitoring Officer tabled a copy of Brickendon Liberty Parish Council’s Code of Conduct.

The Sub-Committee noted the detail of the complaint and the evidence provided by the complainant in support of their allegation.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that, having consulted the Independent Person, he did not consider the complaint could be resolved informally.

The Monitoring Officer invited the Sub-Committee to consider the complaint against the (published) assessment criteria of the Authority’s Complaints Procedure.

The Sub-Committee retired to a separate room to consider the complaint.

After careful consideration of the complaint made by Mr A McNeece against Parish Councillors J Lambie and L Kotting, in consultation with the Independent Person and taking into account the Council’s assessment criteria, the Sub-Committee determined that no further action be taken as the supporting evidence, namely the (full) content of an ‘e’-mail message from Parish Councillor Lambie to the complainant dated 24 March 2015 and a letter from the Parish Clerk to the Chairman of the Hertford and Stortford Conservative Association dated 20 March 2015, did not support the allegation of a breach of Brickendon Liberty Parish Council’s code of conduct by these members.  The ‘e’-mail communication in its entirety was considered to be balanced and the author was reasonably entitled to question the motive of a potential candidate seeking election to the Parish Council.  The letter was from the Clerk to the Parish Council.  As an officer, that person was not subject to the provisions of their Authority’s Code of Conduct.

RESOLVED – that no further action be taken, for the reasons now detailed, in respect of the complaint made by Mr A McNeece against Brickendon Liberty Parish Councillors J Lambie and L Kotting.