| S.764 | In opening the Hearing, the Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure. Both parties indicated that there were no issues they wished to raise in relation to the procedure. The Panel considered a report by K Malde, the Investigating Officer, in relation to allegations made by Councillor Y Creswell that Councillor A K Matthews had:
(i) refused her permission to speak at a meeting of the Planning Control Committee held on 18 January 2005 and, at that meeting and also later in the local press, made erroneous comments about her behaviour at a previous meeting, and, by doing so, failed to treat her with respect; and
(ii) that the comments made by Councillor Matthews about her behaviour and also the reason he gave for refusing her permission to speak, in that it was a “decision of the Committee”, were misleading and, by behaving in this manner, brought his office and authority into disrepute.
L Wiberley, on behalf of Councillor Mathews, submitted a Witness Statement at the meeting to which was appended a copy of his letter of apology to Councillor Creswell, dated 26 July 2005. In paragraph 2 of his Witness Statement, Councillor Matthews had accepted that he had breached paragraphs 3.1(b) and 3.3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.
Councillor Matthews submitted a plea of mitigation and called Mr C E Jones and Councillor D Boden to present character references to the Panel.
Mr Malde, Investigating Officer, referred to the key points from his report, in particular, to the apologies and remorse expressed by Councillor Matthews and suggested leniency in the event that the Panel decided on a penalty.
The following findings as to whether the Code of Conduct had been breached, were set out in the Investigating Officer’s Report:-
“6.1 That for the reasons stated in Section 5, Councillor Matthews failed to treat Councillor Creswell with respect, and, by doing so, failed to comply with paragraph 3.1(b) of Bury MBC’s Code of Conduct.
6.2 Furthermore, Councillor Matthews refused Councillor Creswell permission to speak at the Planning Control Committee meeting on 18 January 2005 without a valid reason, thus restricting her from conducting her duties as a Councillor effectively. It is also found that Councillor Matthews misled the meeting by saying that Councillor Creswell’s behaviour at a previous meeting was “disgusting” and the decision to refuse Councillor Creswell permission to speak was made by the Council or the Planning Control Committee.
6.3 This matter is aggravated by the comments made by Councillor Matthews to a reporter from the local press”.
Following the retirement of the Panel to consider all evidence submitted at the Hearing, the Panel made the following conclusion:-
For the reasons stated in paragraphs 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of the Investigating Officer’s report, the Hearings Panel finds Councillor Matthews behaved in a manner that would diminish public confidence in his office and the Authority and, by behaving in this manner, it is considered that Councillor Matthews brought his office and the Authority into disrepute thus failing to comply with paragraph 3.3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.
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