Former chair of Welsh council disqualified from office for 18 months

The Adjudication Panel for Wales has disqualified Conwy County Borough Council’s former chair Stuart Anderson from office for 18 months.

He was found to have breached the code of conduct for councillors, including by having insulted officers and a local head teacher and disclosed confidential information.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales referred the case to the tribunal.

In its ruling, the tribunal said Mr Anderson, formerly an Independent councillor, in numerous emails challenged Officer X’s capacity to fulfil his role on the ground that he showed signs of early dementia, without having any objective evidence regarding his medical condition.

“Former councillor Anderson relied on his status as a retired doctor to justify speculation about Officer X and his health, and disclosed confidential medical information about Officer X again to a variety of persons, including members of the public,” it said.

The tribunal said it was more likely than not that Mr Anderson’s “offensive, insulting and humiliating” conduct contributed to Officer X’s early retirement.

In the case of another officer, Ms Hughes, it said he referred to her and another person as being found “in flagrante” and said she had fabricated evidence.

The ruling said: “This was a very serious allegation against a legal officer of the council.”

It also found that he called a local head teacher a psychopath, an assertion based only on comments made by a friend of his.

The tribunal concluded Mr Anderson should be disqualified for 18 months from being or becoming a member of any relevant authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2000.

Mark Smulian