Councillor suspended for bullying official

A PARISH councillor has been suspended after being found guilty of bullying the clerk.

Cllr Ronald Law, who is a member of Wales Parish Council, was suspended until the end of April following a tribunal hearing in Rotherham last Friday.

The tribunal ruled that he failed to follow the provisions of the parish council’s code of conduct by his “aggressive and intimidating behaviour.”

It ruled that he failed to treat the clerk with respect and bullied her. 

He was also found guilty of bringing his role as a councillor into disrepute.

The hearing was called after an official complaint was made that Cllr Law, who is in his 70s, had bullied Jane Anthony, the clerk to Wales Parish Council, which covers the villages of Wales and Kiveton Park.

The Local Government Standards in England tribunal was held to investigate the complaint from Rotherham Borough’s Council’s standards committee that Cllr Law had failed to follow the code of conduct.

Judge Beverley Primhak, sitting with tribunal members Chris Perrett and Richard Enderby, decided that Cllr Law failed to follow the provisions of the code over a period in January and February 2010, while acting in his official capacity.

The finding of the tribunal said: “By his aggressive and intimidating behaviour he failed to treat the parish clerk with respect, bullied her and brought the role of councillor of Wales Parish Council into disrepute.”

The tribunal decided that Cllr Law, who had been a member of the council for nearly four years, should be suspended from the parish council until April 30.

Cllr Gill Shaw, chairman of the parish council who accompanied the clerk at the tribunal and had supported her with her complaint against Cllr Law, said that she was pleased with the decision because of the way the clerk had been treated.

She said: “It has been a very difficult time for the authority and we have had to take advice from Rotherham Borough Council, which referred the case to the Local Government Standards in England tribunal.”

Cllr Shaw added that after Cllr Law’s suspension ended, parish council elections would be taking place in May so it was difficult to say whether Cllr Law would return to the authority when his suspension ended.

Cllr Law, who was elected to the parish council in 2007, said that he would probably be lodging an appeal against the decision.

Former parish councillor Keith Bamforth, who is acting on his behalf, said the issue stemmed from a Freedom of Information Act request by Cllr Law to the council, which was refused.

Mr Bamforth said: “We believe it was very unfair that he was not permitted access to that information which he considered he was entitled to and which put the clerk in an invidious position.

“We are awaiting a ruling by the Information Commissioner in relation to the FoI request and we will be considering an appeal against his suspension.”