Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU. View directions

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chair for the meeting.

Minutes:

Nominations were sought for the appointment of a Chair for the hearing.

 

It was proposed by Councillor Iris Beech and Seconded by Councillor Mark Houlbrook that Councillor R.A. Jones preside as Chair for the hearing.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor R. A. Jones preside as Chair for the hearing.

 

 

 

 

2.

Apologies for Absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Austen White, who was unable to attend the hearing due to illness. The Chair Councillor R.A. Jones confirmed that the meeting was quorate.

 

3.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

Councillor R.A. Jones declared a non-disclosable percuniary interest by virtue of being a Parish Councillor at Sprotbrough and Cusworth Parish Council.

 

4.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no exclusions from the meeting. 

 

5.

Consideration of the Investigating Officer's Report regarding complaints against Councillors Jessie Credland, Michael Glynn and William Morrison of Hatfield Town Council (Case Ref. PC5 2018/19). pdf icon PDF 380 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered the final report of the Investigating Officer, Helen Potts which was presented to the Monitoring Officer on 30th November, 2018.

 

The report related to allegations in respect of Town Councillors Jessie Credland, Michael Glynn and William Morrison of Hatfield Town Council, that they had breached the Hatfield Town Council’s Member Code of Conduct. The investigation had been undertaken following a complaint, submitted by Mrs Clare McRoy, Clerk to Hatfield Town Council on 20th June, 2018, alleging that the three Councillors had handed her a letter dated 11th June 2018, dismissing her from her post as Clerk. The complainant alleged that the three Councillors had no authority to issue the letter and did so without the knowledge of the rest of the Councillors, or any proper processes being followed.  It was also alleged that Councillor Morrison had passed on an email without authority or permission to another Councillor that Mrs McRoy had sent to him marked ‘confidential’.

 

The Investigating Officer summarised the main findings within her report, in particular, outlining the rationale for reaching her conclusions that, in respect of complaints regarding Town Councillors Jessie Credland and Michael Glynn and William Morrison had failed to comply with the Hatfield Town Council Code of Conduct  (“the Code of Conduct”) in relation to the following obligations of the Code:-

 

Obligation 1

 

·            He/she shall behave in such a way that a reasonable person would regard as respectful.

 

Obligation 2

 

·           He/she shall not act in a way which a reasonable person would regard as bullying or intimidatory.

In addition, Morrison had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct in relation to the following Obligation of the Code:-

 

Obligation 5

 

·         He/she shall not disclose information which is confidential or where disclosure if prohibited by law

Town Councillors Credland, Glynn and Morrison were each provided the opportunity to question the Investigator on the content of her report.  Members of the Hearings Sub-Committee were then afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the Investigating Officer.

 

The subject members, Town Councillors Credland, Glynn and Morrison, were invited to present their respective cases, following which the Sub-Committee asked them a number of questions with regard to the allegations.

 

The Investigating Officer was then invited to sum up the complaints.  Town Councillors Credland, Glynn and Morrison were afforded the opportunity to sum up their respective cases, prior to the Sub-Committee reaching its decision on these matters in private.

 

On the conclusion of this part of the process, in accordance with the Hearings Procedure, all parties with the exception of the Monitoring Officer, the Independent Person and the Clerk were asked to leave the room to allow the Sub-Committee to deliberate in private, in order to determine whether or not there had been breaches of the Code of Conduct and, if so, whether any sanctions should be imposed.  In reaching its conclusions, the Sub-Committee considered the representations and evidence, in consultation with the Independent Person.

 

All parties were then re-admitted to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.