Elected mayor cleared of bringing council into disrepute

THE elected mayor of Doncaster has been cleared of allegations he brought the council into disrepute by attempting to smear the reputation of the former civic mayor.

An investigation by the council's standards committee has ruled that English Democrat Mayor Peter Davies did not breach the elected members' code of conduct.

The case revolved around a local newspaper article last October which detailed the expenses of former civic mayor and current Lib Dem group leader on the authority Paul Coddington.

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He rejected any notion expenses incurred when he attended functions as Doncaster's civic dignitary during his year in office – 2008/09 – were excessive or any different to those of his predecessors.

It was alleged the information had come from the office of former chief executive Paul Hart who had allegedly been told by Mayor Davies to obtain the details which were then forwarded to the Doncaster Free Press.

The standards committee initially found that Mayor Davies had a case to answer on five potential breaches of the code of conduct, including allegations his actions compromised the impartiality of council officers and his conduct brought his office or the authority into disrepute.

But following a subsequent investigation carried out by Claire Lefort of Weightmans Solicitors, the committee has ruled there had not been a failure by Mayor Davies to comply with the code of conduct.

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No further details of the investigation were made available and neither Mayor Davies nor Coun Coddington responded to requests to comment.

Meanwhile, Hadfield town councillor Mick Glynn has been suspended for one month for bullying a Doncaster council officer.

A separate standards committee delivered the sanction after Coun Glynn sent an email to Gary Stapleton, a senior planning investigation officer, which was found to be "threatening and intimidatory" and an attempt to compromise the officer's impartiality.

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