Code of Conduct Complaint 121

The long-standing complaint against Cllr Kelsey for the way he chaired the Cruxton Farm Planning Committee meeting in April 2022 was initially made in April last year, but somehow got lost. When it was resubmitted in January, there were problems in hearing the complaint: both Cllr Borthwick (Chair of the Standards Committee and Cllr Kelsey (Vice Chair) had to recuse themselves because both were named in the complaint; and it was not possible to convene a quorate meeting before the local elections. Hence the the delay until a new Standards Committee could be appointed by the new post-election administration.

The Standards Committee has clearly found some substance in the complaint: one part of it was upheld; and a further consequence is that it has been decided that additional training will be made available to the Chairs of all BCP’s committees to promote ‘the best use of language’ and ‘to ensure objectivity and public confidence in decision making’.

To see the full complaint and judgement go DOWNLOADS below.