Chairman is ‘censured’ by West Lindsey District Council

According to a statement, West Lindsey say they received a code of conduct complaint against Bardney Parish Council chairman Robert Webb on February 5, 2020.

No details about the nature of the complaint – or who made it – are included in the statement.

Following an initial assessment by WLDC’s Monitoring Officer – and an ‘ independent person – the matter was investigated and concluded it was ‘likely’ a breach of conduct had occurred.

A ‘local resolution’ was recommended as the most appropriate course of action.

That included a requirement for Coun Webb to apologise in writing, as well as a series of recommendations to the parish council, including a reminder members should refrain from commenting on social media issues.

The statement adds:: “The overriding sentiment of the investigating officer’s report was the matters related solely to inter-personal issues that were ‘long standing and entrenched.’

The statement reveals that while the complainant was willing to accept the local resolution, the subject member (Coun Webb) wasn’t.

As a consequence the statement confirms that: ‘The monitoring officer has made a decision to make public, by way of censure notice, the decision taken and the subject member’s unwillingness to engage in the process a matter of public record for 28 days.’