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Office Of Administration And Hearings

Media Statement

Written decision of the Hearing Panel issued on 7 March 2005

The Standards Commission for Scotland confirms its Hearing Panel finding that Councillor Dennis Goldie breached the key principle of respect as set out in section 2 and the provisions as to General Conduct in the Chamber or in Committee as set out in section 3.14 of the Councillors Code of Conduct during the Council meeting on 23 January 2004.

The Hearing Panel considered that further to the accepted breaches of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Goldie:-

a) That Councillor Goldie's behaviour at a full Council Meeting, and as accepted by him, constitute serious breaches of the Code, which serves to lower public confidence in local government and Falkirk Council in particular:

b) Although the action of Councillor Goldie was alleged to have been made in the heat of the moment, it took approximately nine months for a full and unreserved apology to be made available at a full Council Meeting. The Hearing Panel seriously questioned the extent to which this apology had been devalued in the light of its tardiness and potential insincerity, and considered accordingly that a suspension from office for a period could have been merited. An apology in itself is not sufficient to disregard a breach of the Code - if the Code is breached, consequences follow and an apology is a factor to be considered only in mitigation.

Councillor Dennis Goldie has been censured in terms of section 19(1)(a) of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 and there will be no further action taken.

Councillor Goldie has received the Hearing Panel's written decision.

Case Ref LA/Fa/45

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