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Complaint no. LA/DG/73 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor William Nimmo of Dumfries and Galloway Council

1. Complaint number LA/DG/73 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor William Nimmo ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, the provisions relating to the use of Council facilities set out in paragraph 3.17.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant"), alleged the respondent used telephone facilities provided by the Council to contact her in relation to domestic issues unrelated to Council business following the ending of a relationship between them. Councillor Nimmo accepted that he made the telephone calls and that he had not sought authorisation for the calls. At the time of the Report, the respondent had reached an agreement with the Council to re-imburse the cost of the calls.

4. While the underlying issues surrounding this complaint were domestic in nature and thus fell outwith the role of the respondent as a councillor, the use of the Council's telephone facilities for private purposes did go beyond the proper use of such facilities. As such the provisions regarding the abuse of Council facilities contained within the Code did apply.

5. Having considered the information that arose from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor William Nimmo had contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct. However, due to health and stress issues in this case I recommended that no further action would be appropriate or would require to be taken.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
11 March 2005