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Lewes and Eastbourne
Councils

Agenda and minutes

Venue: remote meeting via Teams

Note: This meeting is being held remotely using Microsoft Teams in accordance with section 78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 and section 13 of the related regulations. You can view the meeting via the Council’s You Tube page. 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chair of the Standards Panel for this hearing

Minutes:

Resolved:

That Councillor Robinson be elected Chair of this Standards Panel, 19 March 2021.

 

The Chair then introduced everyone present, explained the roles of each person, and outlined the order of proceedings.

2.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

There were none.

3.

Declarations of interest

Disclosure by councillors of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the councillor regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

Cllr Burman declared that he had attended some meetings of the Greenhavens Network.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that attendance at those meetings would not be prejudicial to his participation in today’s Panel hearing.

4.

Hearing in relation to allegations that Councillor Stephen Gauntlett failed to comply with the Council's Code of Conduct for Members pdf icon PDF 293 KB

To consider the report of the Monitoring Officer (attached herewith).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited the Monitoring Officer to present his report.

 

The Monitoring Officer explained that a complaint had been submitted by a member of the public, Ms Rigby-Faux, in June 2020 alleging that Cllr Stephen Gauntlett had failed to comply with Lewes District Council’s Code of Conduct for Members (the Code).

 

In line with the Council’s Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints about Councillor Conduct, and in discussion with the Independent Person, it was agreed that the allegations submitted were serious enough to warrant an external investigation. ch&i associates was engaged to conduct the investigation, which entailed extensive interviews and evidence gathering. Both the Complainant and the Subject Member had taken the opportunity to comment on the subsequent report from ch&i associates.

 

In consequence of the report’s findings, and in line with the Code’s complaint processes, a Standards Hearing Panel had been convened to determine a final decision.

 

The Monitoring Officer noted that Cllr Gauntlett had requested that the Panel had sight of certain emails which the External Investigator had specifically referenced in his report.  These were reproduced in appendices 3-5 of the agenda pack.

 

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the day’s hearing would follow the order of proceedings outlined in appendix 6.

 

The Monitoring Officer clarified that the scope of the Panel’s determination was limited to the conduct of Cllr Gauntlett when acting in his capacity as a councillor, and none other.  In the event that the Panel decided there had been a breach of the Code, a range of sanctions were available to the Panel, as set out in Appendix 7. In considering both the decision, and any subsequent sanctions, the Panel was to take into account the views of the Independent Person.

 

The Chair invited questions from the Panel. The Panel members confirmed they had no questions for the Monitoring Officer in respect of his report.

 

The Chair invited the External Investigator, Alex Oram from ch&i associates, to present his report (appendix 1 of the agenda pack).

 

The External Investigator began by checking that all present had seen and read the 54 page investigation report, and then proceeded to provide a summary explanation of the approach taken for the investigation and the reasoning of the report’s findings. 

 

The External Investigator explained that a key element of the investigation was to evaluate and identify those elements of the events in question that pertained to and fell within the scope of Lewes District Council’s Code of Conduct for Members.

 

The External Investigator noted that the report concluded that the majority of Cllr Gauntlett’s actions as chair of Greenhavens Network largely fell outside the scope of the investigation.  However, it was the final view of the External Investigator that there were occasions when the behaviour and conduct of the Subject Member did bring him within scope of Code, most notably in those instances set out in sections 5.3 and 5.4 of the report.

 

In conclusion, the report recommended that Cllr Gauntlett be found to have failed to comply  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Decision as to whether Councillor Gauntlett failed to comply with the Code of Conduct for Members and, if applicable, whether to impose any sanction in respect of that failure. pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Minutes:

The Panel reconvened in a public meeting, held remotely, via Teams, at 3.15pm, to announce its decision as to whether Councillor Gauntlett had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct for Members.

 

The Panel reconvened in a public meeting, held remotely, via Teams, at 3.15pm, to announce its decision as to whether Cllr Gauntlett had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct for Members.

 

Resolved:

 

Having carefully considered the investigator’s written report and the verbal submissions made by all parties at today’s hearing, and having taken account of the views of the Independent Person, the Panel concluded as follows:

 

(i) The Panel accepts the investigator’s observation at paragraph 5.13 of his report that there were circumstances during Cllr Gauntlett’s relationship with Ms Rigby-Faux when he was acting in his capacity as Chair of Lewes District Council, and that he was therefore subject to the Council’s Code of Conduct at these times.

 

(ii) The Panel also agreed that Cllr Gauntlett’s conduct during those times came within the scope of paragraphs 3(1), 3(2)(b), 5 and 6(a) of the Code of Conduct. These elements of the Code relate respectively to the obligation to treat others with respect; not to bully or harass any person; not to conduct oneself in a manner that might reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute; and not using one’s position as a Member improperly to confer on or secure for oneself or any other person an advantage or disadvantage.

 

(iii) The Panel noted that Cllr Gauntlett had on many occasions recognised the good work Ms Rigby-Faux had done in the early days of the Greenhavens Network. The Panel also recognised that both parties had the best interests of the Greenhavens Network at heart and wanted the lottery bid to produce the best outcome for local communities.

 

(iv) The Panel agreed with the investigator’s findings that Cllr Gauntlett did not treat Ms Rigby-Faux disrespectfully; nor did he bully or harass her; nor did he conduct himself in a manner that could reasonably be regarded as bringing his office or authority into disrepute in relation to the allegation that he did not declare his interests in breach of the Code of Conduct under paragraphs 3(1), 3(2)(b) or 5 respectively, for the reasons stated in the investigator’s report.

 

(v) The Panel then addressed the difficult issue of whether Cllr Gauntlett had complied with paragraph 6(a) of the Code of Conduct. This provision of the Code consists of three significant elements: first, using one’s position as a Member to confer on oneself an advantage; second and alternatively, using that position to disadvantage someone else; and third, that either of these acts be done improperly.

 

The Panel found no evidence to support the allegation that Cllr Gauntlett had improperly used his position to confer on himself an advantage. While it was alleged that Cllr Gauntlett wanted to take control of the Lottery Bid submission in order to secure himself a position on the Council’s Cabinet,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.