Issue - meetings

To consider the report.

The Chair introduced all parties relevant to the complaint.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised the sub-committee that the Subject Member, Councillor P Yeo was not in attendance at the meeting and asked that the sub-committee consider if they wished to continue the hearing in his absence. Reference was made to Local Government Association (LGA) guidance on code of conduct complaints, which stated that if a subject member was unable to attend the hearing on a specified date, the sub-committee could agree to hold the hearing on a different date, provided they were satisfied that the Subject Member had given an acceptable reason. Where an acceptable reason was not given or no reply provided within a specified time, the hearing should proceed and the sub-committee should consider the report in the Subject Members’ absence. The Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Subject Member had been made aware of the hearing date on 23 June 2026. On 24 July 2026, the Subject Member had requested the hearing to be postponed due to work commitments and personal circumstances. The Deputy Monitoring Officer had responded to the Subject Member on 29 July 2026 to confirm that the sub-committee were minded, after discussion, to proceed with the hearing date. The sub-committee felt the Subject Member had been provided with sufficient time to make other arrangements or provide earlier notification that he was unable to attend. In response to a question, it was confirmed that an email had been received at 12.35pm today advising that the Subject Member would not be in attendance due to work commitments and personal circumstances.

The sub-committee agreed that the hearing would continue.

M Dolley, Investigating Officer presented her report in respect of complaints made against Shaftesbury Town Council Councillor Yeo (the Subject Member) by Shaftesbury Town Council Councillor Hollingshead (the Complainant).

The Investigating Officer provided detail of the complaints received which alleged a breach of paragraphs 5 (disrepute), 6 (use of position) and 9 (registration and declaration of specified interests) of the Shaftesbury Town Council code of conduct. The complaints had been investigated in accordance with Dorset Council’s arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct complaints.

To investigate the complaints, the Investigating Officer had taken into consideration the following evidence:

·       The complaints and various screenshots that accompanied them

·       Shaftesbury Town Council Code of Conduct and Standing Orders

·       Agendas and minutes of the two relevant town council meetings

·       The notice given by the Subject Member to Dorset Council’s Monitoring Officer of the interests required to be registered under s.30 of the Localism Act 2011

·       Various emails as referred to in the report

·       The guidance issued by the Local Government Association which supported the model code of conduct on which the town council’s code was closely modelled and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights

·       Interviews with the complainant and the subject member (statements contained within the report) and further statements made by the Subject Member.

The complaints were set out in full in the report and the Investigating Officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5