Agenda and draft minutes

The Senior Democratic and Governance Officer opened the meeting and introduced the sub-committee members, the Deputy Monitoring Officer as advisor to the sub-committee and herself as clerk to the sub-committee.

To elect a Chair for the meeting.

It was proposed by R Bryan seconded by B Ezzard

Decision

That A Todd be elected Chair of the Audit and Governance (Hearing) Sub-committee for this meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

The Chair confirmed that all members of the sub-committee were present.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider passing the following recommendation:

Recommendation

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in item 5 and 6 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) 1 and 2 of Part 1 of schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered. (Any live streaming will end at this juncture).

Reason for taking the item in private

Paragraph 1 – Information relating to any individual.

Paragraph 2 – Information which is likely to reveal identity of an individual.

The sub-committee agreed that the meeting would be held in public.

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.

To consider the report.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed that the decision taken by the sub-committee at the beginning of the meeting to hold the meeting in public, applied to both code of conduct complaints.

The Chair invited the Investigating Officer to present the complaint.

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 1 (requirement to treat councillors and others with respect) and paragraph 5 (Disrepute) of the Shaftesbury Town Council Councillor 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

·       Shaftesbury Town Council Code of Conduct

·       Video recording of Shaftesbury Town Council meeting of 18 March 2025

·       Facebook page maintained by the This is Alfred radio station and the broadcast by This is Alfred of its daily programme on 19 March 2025

·       Emails sent to the Subject Member by the Town Clerk at the time

·       Interviews with the Complainant and one other member of Shaftesbury Town Council and the Subject Member (statements included within the investigation report)

The complaints were set out in full in the report and the Investigating Officer took the sub-committee through the main points arising.

The complaints related to the conduct of the Subject Member at the Shaftesbury Town Council Full Council meeting on 18 March 2025 and the discussion of agenda item 7 relating to the recruitment of a new town clerk.

The findings section of the report described the relevant part of the meeting, the reporting of the meeting by This is Alfred in its daily broadcast and on its Facebook page, and the email correspondence sent by the town clerk to the Subject Member, which set out the provisions of paragraph 1 of the code and the general principles of councillor conduct stated in the introduction section of the code. Correspondence from the town clerk had urged the Subject Member to undertake code of conduct training.

The Investigating Officer provided an overview of the conclusions set out in the report, which included her comments on the comments made by the Subject Member, both in response to the draft report and on the statement submitted by him in advance of this meeting. The Investigating Officer had concluded that the Subject Member was in breach of paragraph 1 and paragraph 5 of the code of conduct and set out her reasoning for this conclusion, including her consideration of the application of Article 10 ECHR. In addition, the Investigating Officer noted that the matter relating to the Subject Member’s failure to undertake training on the code of conduct had not been included in the original complaint but had been added to the investigation in accordance with paragraph G of the Dorset Council arrangements for dealing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.