Shrewsbury & Atcham
Borough Council

Reference Number CM32

SBE Reference Number: 20140.07

Date of Report: 13^th May 2008

1. Preliminary Documents

1. The Monitoring Officer received a referral dated 26^th November 2007 under section 66 of the Local Government Act 2000 from an Ethical Standards Officer in relation to an allegation made against Councillor Bebb. The allegation was that Councillor Bebb had failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest in that one of the objectors to planning application 07/0902/O was known to him.

2. Oral and written submissions (procedural)

1. The Standards Sub-Committee considered a request to withhold certain papers from publication on the grounds that they contained private and confidential information which should be exempt from publication. The Committee decided that the papers should not be released for publication and that they would be noted by the Committee as they provided assistance in determining whether any possible personal interest could also be prejudicial. All other evidence was to be considered in public.

3. Findings of fact

1. The majority of facts in the Investigating Officers report were undisputed.
2. The Investigating Officer accepted the comments made by Councillor Bebb in relation to paragraph 4.2 of his report.
3. The Investigating Officer, in response to the disputed paragraph 4.4 of his report, explained that he considered it possible that all residents of David Avenue would be affected by the proposed development. Whilst the impact was not confined solely to Mrs Holyoak, the effect on all residents of David Avenue was likely to be greater than the impact on the majority of council tax payers in the entire electoral ward.

4. Summary of submissions by the Investigating Officer

1. The Investigating Officer indicated that the complainant had submitted a complaint to the Standards Board containing, amongst others, allegations that Councillor Bebb had failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest The ESO referred the complaint in relation to Councillor Bebb for further investigation.
2. He had considered discussions with Councillor Bebb and with the complainant and his wife. The notes of those discussions were presented to the Committee. He had also considered the minutes of the Development Control and Environmental Protection Committee and a transcript of the discussions held at the meeting. Advice had been sought from Towler Shaw in order to establish whether there would be any financial impact in the value of Mrs Holyoaks property as a result of the planning publication.
3. The Investigating Officer confirmed that he believed Councillor Mrs Holyoak by reason of her shared membership of the Council was a close associate of Councillor Bebb and that the planning application would have an impact on her well-being.
4. He indicated that there was only evidence to show that the planning application would have an impact on Mrs Holyoaks well being. Given the scale and nature of the likely impact he believed that Cllr Bebb should have declared a personal interest and that Councillor Bebb had not needed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest.

5. Summary of submissions by the Complainant.

1. The complainant, Mr Wynne Jones indicated that he was the applicant for the planning permission which had given rise to the complaint. He expressed disappointment that Councillor Bebb had failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest in the application and had an expectation that he would do so since he had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in an application by Mrs Holyoak for a development in respect of a site which was considered in 2004. He referred to applications for development within the same ward which had been supported by Councillor Bebb. Mr Jones suggested that Councillor Bebb was a friend of Mrs Holyoak.

6. Summary of submissions by Councillor Bebb.

1. Councillor Bebb indicated that he did not consider Councillor Mrs Holyoak to be a close associate of his. He explained that he had known Mrs Holyoak for a period of around 20 years and that during that time he had never been to her house nor her to his and they had not entertained each other.
2. He indicated that he had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in 2004 when an application submitted by Councillor Mrs Holyoak was considered because at that time she was the fellow ward Councillor for the ward which is represented by Councillor Bebb. She was currently elected to represent a ward other than that which was represented by Councillor Bebb.

7. Standards Committee’s decision on whether or not there had been a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct

1. The Standards Committee reached the following decision after considering the submissions of the parties:

1. The relevant section of the Code of Conduct was Paragraph 8(1)(b)
2. Councillor Bebb did fail to comply with the Code of Conduct by failing to disclose a personal interest as defined in Paragraph 8(1)(b) with regard to planning application reference 07/0902/O as a consequence of his close association with an objector, when required to do so following the adoption of the Council’s Code of Conduct in May 2007.

7. What penalty if any ought to be imposed?

1. Summary of submissions by the Investigating Officer

The Investigating Officer indicated that had Councillor Bebb declared a personal interest in planning application reference 07/0902/O he would have been entitled to take a full part in the deliberations and voting thereon. The outcome of the consideration of the matter would have been no different. He suggested that he did not believe that Councillor Bebb had failed to declare his interest out of a deliberate attempt to prejudice the outcome of the decision.

8.2 Summary of submissions by Councillor Bebb

Councillor Bebb indicated that other members of the Development Control and Environmental Protection Committee who had been present at the meeting which had been held on 14^th August 2007 had also failed to declare a personal interest in that an objector was a close associate. He did not consider at the time of the meeting that Councillor Mrs Holyoak was a close associate of his which required to be declared as an interest at the meeting.

9 Standards Committee’s decision on what penalty, if any, ought to be imposed

9.1 The Standards Committee considered that Councillor Bebb’s failure to declare a personal interest as a consequence of his close association with an objector for the application was not a deliberate attempt to prejudice the outcome of the matter. The Committee directed that Councillor Bebb be required to undertake further training in relation to Part 2 of the Code of Conduct with regard to Interests prior to the next meeting of the Development Control and Environmental Protection Committee if possible or within the next month if not.

10. Right to appeal

10.1 Councillor Bebb has the right to apply in writing to the President of the Adjudication Panel for England for permission to appeal the Standards Committee’s findings. Written notice requesting permission to appeal must be received by the President of the Adjudication Panel for England within 21 days of the members receipt of the notification of the Standards Committee’s findings.