Standards Committee release report that issued Deputy Mayor’s three month suspension

Wrexham Council have published the decision report from the Standards Committee in relation to a complaint relating to a breach of the Code of Conduct by Councillor Paul Rogers.

The suspension started on the 16th of January and will end on Tuesday, 16th May.

Today’s release indicates Paul Rogers had intended to appeal, however the Adjudication Panel for Wales ‘deemed the application to have been made out of time’.

The three page report gives an overview of allegations, giving more detail to the process that has taken place locally, with an Ombudsman statement last month referring to it as ‘incident which occurred on a bus’.

2.1. The allegations contained in the Ombudsman’s report were that Councillor Rogers had breached the Code of Conduct in relation to emails sent to the Police about the complainant’s behaviour and that Councillor Rogers believed the complainant’s behaviour amounted to a breach of the peace / public order offence and that something should be done about it.

2.2 Having obtained CCTV footage of the incident from the bus company and evidence from the Police, the Ombudsman did not consider that the complainant appeared aggressive as suggested by Councillor Rogers and found that comments made by the complainant to Councillor Rogers during the incident related to issues which were public knowledge. On the basis of the information available the Ombudsman did not consider they could reasonably be considered “verbal abuse”.

2.3. The Ombudsman concluded that Councillor Rogers’ correspondence to the Police was misleading and exaggerated. He felt itwas made in his capacity as a Member of both the Community and County Councils doing so in his official capacity, despite the fact he was present on the bus in his personal capacity.

The Ombudmans conclusions there may have been a breach of two paragraphs of the Code of Conduct was looked at by the Standards Committee at Wrexham Council.

The report states the Standards Committee first looked at the matter in July 2022, and the substantive meeting took place in January to consider the issue. An oral hearing took place on 12 January at the Guildhall – a meeting we noted contained a document over 200 pages, and the meeting had disappeared at one point from the council’s website.

The meeting had representations from the Ombudsman and Paul Rogers, and the Ombudsman also called the complainant as a witness.

The report points to four ‘disputed facts’ and the committees verdict on them:

i. whether Councillor Rogers alleged to the Police that the complainant had sworn

Outcome agreed by committee: insufficient evidence — no longer disputed.

ii. was the complainant aggressive and abusive

Outcome agreed by committee: on the balance of probabilities, this was not proved.

iii. whether Councillor Rogers made a complaint to the Police with regards to the complainant’s conduct.

Outcome agreed by committee: yes, via numerous emails

Councillor Rogers made a further representation:
iv. whether the Police had properly investigated the incident on the day in question.

Outcome agreed by committee: no relevance.

The report says, “The Ombudsman stated that the Police investigation was not relevant to the Hearing. However Councillor Rogers’ behaviour following the incident by way of emails sent by him to the Police in relation to the complainant’s behaviour was.”

The Standards Committee found that Councillor Rogers had breached the Code of Conduct in relation to paragraphs 6(1)(a) and 7(a).

Prior to considering further action or sanction the Committee allowed Councillor Rogers to present three character witnesses on his behalf. Two attended in person whilst the third had submitted an email which was read to the Committee by the Chair.

The outcome of the meeting reads: “…the Committee, on a majority view, decided to impose the following sanctions:
e That Councillor Rogers be suspended from his duties as a Wrexham County Borough Councillor and a Brymbo Community Councillor for a period of three months.”

They added, “The Committee also took into account the representations made by Councillor Rogers and the fact that he had co-operated with the investigation of the Ombudsman albeit that it had progressed to a contested hearing.”

The full three page report can be viewed here on the council’s website for a limited amount of time.