Home » Bridgend town councillor secures reduced sanction after code breach appeal

Bridgend town councillor secures reduced sanction after code breach appeal

Bridgend Council

A TOWN and county borough councillor from Bridgend has seen partial success in his appeal against a six month suspension.

Independent councillor Steven Bletsoe, of Bridgend Town Council, was suspended for six months in May of 2024 after he failed to declare a personal and prejudicial interest in a matter concerning his wife and fellow councillor Freya Bletsoe.

Councillor Steven Bletsoe Of Bridgend (Pic: Bridgend County Borough Council)

The suspension was handed down from Bridgend County Borough Council’s standards committee after a dispute over the accuracy of minutes which recorded a disagreement between the Clerk of the town council and Cllr Freya Bletsoe, at a meeting which discussed the unveiling of blue plaques in the town.

An appeal tribunal over the case was convened in December of 2024 with Cllr Bletsoe supported by Cllr Martin Williams along with what was described as a large number of written character references.

The report given by the Adjudication Panel for Wales said while Cllr Bletsoe had accepted that there had been a code breach which he did not wish to challenge, he did not accept the level of sanction which he felt to be “egregious” adding that he “strongly believed the sanction of six months’ suspension had been too harsh”.

It went on to say he felt he had been characterized in an unfair way as being “cavalier or a rule-breaker,” whilst his aim was to serve the public with the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales not recognising mitigating factors.

A submission from the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales over the actions taken said as Cllr Bletsoe was an experienced member of the council  expectations upon him were greater than they would have been for an inexperienced member.

They also added that there had been “no real reflection or remorse” over the matter and noted what they considered as repeated attempts to deflect blame onto others.

However, a summary of the decision from the appeal panel said that the breach in this case was not considered to be clear-cut and was not the most serious type of breach typically referred to Standards Committees in Wales.

As such, they decided unanimously to refer the matter back to BCBC’s standards committee, saying that a suspension of six months was “excessive” as this was the maximum sanction which could be imposed.

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The report read: “The Tribunal considered that the breaches had been unintentional and had been due to a misguided view of the code rather than a deliberate breach. It was satisfied that the Appellant’s primary motivation had been to ensure that minutes of the Regeneration Committee meeting had been fair and balanced.”

A recommendation for Cllr Bletsoe who was described by an official as being a good councillor was later sent which said the appellant should be suspended for a period of 10 weeks.

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