Information on Investigations

Which Sector? > Local Authorities > Fife > LA/Fi/93 & La/Fi/100

Complaint no. LA/Fi/93 & La/Fi/100

Concerning an alleged contravention of The Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor William Leggatt of Fife Council

1. Complaint numbers LA/Fi/93 and LA/Fi/100 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor William Leggatt ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, those parts of section 2 of the Code which deal with Duty and Leadership.

3. The person complaining in complaint number LA/Fi/93 ("the first complainant") stated that if Councillor Leggatt's conduct had been reported accurately in an article in the Daily Record on 12 July 2004 he had breached the key principles of the Code in relation to duty and leadership. The article alleged that while in his local public house watching a televised football match between Portugal and England the respondent shouted "ha ha f... you's! Ya f...ing beauty!" at a group of English people when Portugal scored a goal. The first complainant stated that "Councillor Leggatt's comments if true, and he does not appear to have denied them, are offensive and quite unacceptable. There is no doubt in my mind that they bring the Council, its councillors and its employees into disrepute. Moreover, his comments about English people... may cause people to take the view that English people are less likely to obtain a fair decision in any application he has to consider...". The person complaining in complaint number LA/Fi/100 ("the second complainant") alleged the same breach of the Code.

4. The respondent admitted that he had shouted and sworn in the public house but claimed that his remarks were not addressed to the group of English people but to the television match commentator (who was English). The respondent's version of events was supported by his wife and another customer who was in the public house on the evening in question. The public house landlord, however, was clearly of the view that the respondent had shouted and sworn at one of the group of English people and that it was for this reason that the landlord had asked the respondent to leave the public house and had banned him indefinitely from returning.

5. The public house landlord impressed as a reliable witness who gave an account of events which he believed was both honest and accurate. His account however was not on all fours with the accounts given by the other witnesses (two of whom, of course, were the respondent and his wife) and all that could safely be found was that the respondent did shout and did swear and that due to his conduct he was asked to leave the public house. The target of his abuse was not clear and a finding could not be made that the respondent's outburst was directed at the English people present in the bar during the football match. In this regard it was considered significant that no-one present on the evening in question and in particular no member of the group of English people present had complained about the respondent's conduct.

6. The findings referred to above were made on the basis of assessment of the evidence during the course of the investigation. In this context it may be helpful to emphasise that the provisions of the Councillors' Code of Conduct, including the key principles in section 2 of the Code, are set out to ensure high standards of conduct by councillors in relation to their duties and responsibilities as councillors. In this particular case there was no evidence whatsoever that the respondent's misconduct related in any way to such duties and responsibilities although, it is accepted that it is a fact that he is a councillor and that the misconduct took place in a bar which included members of the public. Furthermore there were no allegations of misconduct under any specific section of the Code (such as section 3 which deals with general conduct) other than section 2 which deals with key principles rather than the specific rules of conduct. The scope of the Code does not however, reach beyond conduct of a councillor which is related to his duties and responsibilities as a councillor and in this case there was no material evidence of such a relationship.

7. Having considered the information arising from my investigation, I concluded that, Councillor William Leggatt had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
06 December 2004