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Complaint no. LA/WL/144 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor David King of West Lothian Council

1. Complaint number LA/WL/144 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor David King ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, the key principles in section 2 of the Code dealing with Selflessness and Honesty.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant") alleged that the respondent intervened in a building warrant application by one of the complainant's clients. It was alleged that the respondent did this to influence the outcome of a building control officer's assessment of the application because a friend of the respondent was the next door neighbour of the complainant's client. The complainant alleged that Councillor King had sought to place obstacles in the way of his client's application to obtain a building warrant. The complainant also alleged that Councillor King referred to his client's chosen builder as a "cowboy" and suggested another named builder who might possibly have been a friend of the respondent.

4. The respondent refuted the allegations made by the complainant and explained that he had been contacted as local councillor by the neighbour of the complainant's client. This neighbour alleged that he had not received a neighbour notification notice in respect of a planning application which had been made by the complainant's client. The respondent stated that he had brought this situation to the attention of officers in the planning department of West Lothian Council. He admitted that he had attended a site visit at the neighbour's home on 21 July 2004. This visit was also attended by planning officers of West Lothian Council. The respondent denied that he had offered advice or suggested a particular builder to the complainant's client.

5. The planning control officer of West Lothian Council who dealt with this building warrant application confirmed that he attended the above mentioned site visit on 21 July 2004 but stated that the respondent had not then or at any other time intervened in the planning issues of this matter in any way. The planning control officer also stated that he did not recall the respondent speaking to the complainant's client at any stage of the site visit and in particular he had no recollection of the respondent making any comments with regard to the complainant's client's choice of builder. It was clear from the evidence provided by the officers of West Lothian Council's Planning Department that any difficulties with regard to this application for a building warrant were intrinsic and had not been created by the respondent or any other external agency.

6. Having considered the information that arose from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor David King had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

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