Tuesday 12th December, 2023
Colchester City Council received five formal complaints against Councillors in the past year. Four related to City Councillors, and two to Parish Councillors.
Yep – we know the maths doesn’t add up. It is understood that one of the complaints was for a City Councillor who was also a Parish Councillor.
This related to the case of ex-Tory Councillor Patricia Moore of West Mersea and Pyefleet. She was accused of flouting two elements of the Council’s Code of Conduct in April 2023
The Governance and Audit sub-committee said her conduct had not treated others with respect “on more than one occasion” and that she had disclosed confidential information relating to the complaints made against her.
But in a surprise move, the same sub-committee later decided the latter offence came within the obligation of treating others with respect.
This meant that Councillor Moore had only breached a single element of the code of conduct, thereby escaping any real punishment.
She didn’t stand for re-election in May 2023.
The figures about complaints are contained in the papers ahead of the meeting of the Colchester City Council Governance and Audit Committee taking place on 13th December.
The story is wrapped up by saying four out of the five complaints required no further action.
Elsewhere on the agenda is the Review of the Council’s Ethical Governance Policies.
These are the key policies which set out the standards of conduct and integrity that the Council expects of Councillors, staff, partners, suppliers and customers when conducting Council business.
The report confirms that two whistle blowing cases were reported to the City Council in the past year. In total there was 23 reported cases relating to a breach of data protection.
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