Decision of the Hearing Panel of the Commission following the Hearing held at the Glynhill Hotel, Paisley on 01 October 2009

• Panel Members
• The Complaint
• Joint Statements of Facts
• The Decision
• Sanction
• Reasons for Decision and Sanction
• Conclusion

Panel Members:

Mr John Dowson, Chairman

Mr Albert Tait

Mr Okain McLennan

In respect of a Report by D Stuart Allan, Chief Investigating Officer (“the CIO”) further to Complaint No. LA/R/843 (“the Complaint”) concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct (“the Code”) by Councillor Audrey Doig (“the Respondent”) of Renfrewshire Council.

The CIO presented his case. The Respondent was present at the Hearing and represented herself.

The Complaint

The Complainant was Councillor Jim Sharkey of Renfrewshire Council. The Complainant alleged that the Respondent breached the provisions of the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

The respondent had registered a financial interest on 8th May 2007 as an employee of the Renfrewshire Leisure Trust Limited. The item under discussion at a meeting of the General Management and Finance Policy Board (“the Finance Policy Board”) on February 25th 2009, was financial support from the Council for the Lagoon Leisure Centre which is managed by her employer and is her place of employment.

The substance of the complaint was that having declared a non-financial interest in the item of business at the meeting, the Respondent failed to withdraw and, instead, remained in the room and participated in the discussion of the item.

By failing to declare a financial interest and failing to withdraw from the room, it was alleged that the Respondent breached:

Paragraph 5.6 (Your Financial Interests) Any financial interest which is registerable under any of the categories prescribed in Section 4 of this Code must be declared.

Paragraph 5.15 (Making a Declaration) The oral statement of declaration of interest should identify the item or items of business to which it relates. The statement should begin with the words "I declare an interest". The statement must be sufficiently informative to enable those at the meeting to understand the nature of your interest but need not give a detailed description of the interest.

Paragraph 5.16 (Effect of Declaration) Declaring a financial interest has the effect of prohibiting any participation in discussion and voting. You should leave the meeting room until discussion of the item of business is concluded.

The CIO 's Report (“the Report”) was submitted to the Commission in accordance with Section 14.2 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 ( "the Act"). The Code came into effect on 01 May 2003 and the Commission accordingly had jurisdiction to hear the Complaint, as the alleged breaches of the Code occurred after the Code came into operation.

The CIO's findings were that Councillor Doig contravened the provisions of the Code and the Regulations by failing to declare a financial interest and failing to withdraw from the room on 25th February 2009 at a meeting of the Finance Policy Board of Renfrewshire Council.

Joint Statement of Facts

The Chief Investigating Officer and the Respondent lodged as a production a Joint Statement of Facts signed on 23rd and 30th September 2009. In the agreed Joint Statement of Fact, the totality of the CIO's report was accepted as not being in dispute except in part 4 of the report where the addition of the words “responsible for giving consideration to” were added. All the Appendices and Annexes to the report were agreed as being an accurate record of the matters they purport to record.

The Decisions

The Hearing Panel considered all the evidence, submissions given in writing and orally at the Hearing and found as follows:

The Councillors' Code of Conduct applied to the Respondent.

The Respondent was an employee of Renfrewshire Leisure Centre which operates the Lagoon Leisure Centre and therefore had a financial interest in the item of business relating to the Centre at the meeting of the Finance Policy Board on 25th February.

Although the Respondent declared an interest in this item of business, she declared a non-financial interest and failed to declare a financial interest in the item.

The Respondent remained in the meeting room and participated in the discussion of the item.

By failing to declare a financial interest the Respondent breached paragraph 5.6 and 5.15 of the Code.

By remaining in the room and participating in the meeting the Respondent breached paragraph 5.16 of the Code.

Sanction

The Panel decided to censure Councillor Doig under the terms of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 Section 19(1)(a).

Reasons for Decision and Sanction

In reaching their decision, the Panel had taken into account:

1. The non-declaration of a financial interest, either direct or indirect, is a serious matter which undermines public trust and confidence in local government.
2. The purpose of the declaration of interest is to ensure and demonstrate openness, honesty, and accountability, on the part of councillors.
3. Councillor Doig failed to do this on this occasion.
4. Councillor Doig's conduct was not wilful or deliberate but negligent and related to a one-off error of judgement.
5. The Panel heard a clear and unequivocal statement of apology from Councillor Doig.
6. Councillor Doig stated that she now consulted the Monitoring Officer on all potentially sensitive issues relating to her role as a councillor.
7. Ordinarily, the Panel felt that the non-declaration of a financial interest was serious enough to merit a sanction of suspension but in the light of the above circumstances, a sanction of censure should be applied.

Conclusion

The attention of the Respondent is drawn to Section 22 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 which details the Right of Appeal in respect of this Decision.

The Panel determined that there be no award of expenses under Rule 13(1) of the Commission's Hearing Rules.