Stratford-on-Avon District Council investigation findings

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has completed the initial investigations about elected members' conduct raised by a former employee.

Investigations for four of the five District Councillors involved have been completed. The investigation for the fifth member is still continuing, as this complaint arose later in the process.

A further complaint was raised by the former employee about the conduct of a sixth councillor at an external event, but that person was not and had never been a member of Stratford-on Avon District Council, so did not form part of the investigation.

The investigations were conducted under the District Council's Members' Code of Conduct in respect of the individual members concerned, working within the current national legal framework.

Following the conclusion of the investigations into the four District Councillors, the District Council's two Independent Persons were consulted by the Monitoring Officer, who concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that two of the four Councillors had breached the Code of Conduct relating to respect and bringing the role of Councillor into disrepute.

In those two cases, both Councillors Barnes and Feilding have accepted the findings and agreed to take certain actions to remedy the breach, including a full and unreserved written apology to all staff and undertaking further training on the Code of Conduct in relation to respect and reputation.

A summary of facts, the outcomes and including any agreed actions for each of those Councillors has been published on the District Council's website. 

In relation to the other two Councillors, they have been cleared of any wrong-doing and accordingly details of those cases will remain confidential between the parties. In one of these cases, the person concerned was no longer a serving Councillor.

The District Council has thoroughly investigated these serious allegations and has worked within the current national legal framework and imposed sanctions that are proportionate to the offences.

The District Council's Monitoring Officer has also asked the external investigator to produce a further report in relation to the wider culture of the District Council, following the comments in the original Facebook post from the former employee.

This cultural report will be presented to the Audit and Standards Committee on 18 November 2019.

Background information

• The investigation was started following a complaint from a private Facebook message posted by the former employee about some of her experiences and view of a sexist culture at the Council.
  
  
• All staff and Councillors were contacted to invite those with similar concerns to come forward to help with the investigations.
  
  
• A total of eight members of staff came forward and were interviewed as part of the investigation.
  
  
• The investigation was carried out by Olwen Brown, a partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP.