A MEMBER of Pembroke Dock Town Council was not “disrespectful or bullying,” the Public Service Ombudsman has ruled.

In January a complaint was made about an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for town councillors by acting in a “disrespectful and bullying manner towards the previous clerk to the council both in Council meetings and when communicating with her by email, between 2014 and her resignation from the Council in 2017.”

In the latest update to Pembrokeshire County Council’s standards committee on Tuesday, July 9 the Ombudsman’s Code of Conduct Casebook states that there was no action necessary in the Pembroke Dock case.

In investigating whether the actions amounted to a breach of the parts of the code relating to “showing respect and consideration, bullying and harassment, bringing the Council into disrepute and a Member’s duty to disclose an interest if they have one in any Council business” information was gather from the town council, county council and the councillor involved.

“Having considered the evidence, the Ombudsman concluded that he was not persuaded that the Member acted in a disrespectful or bullying manner towards the Clerk at meetings or when communicating with her by email,” states the ombudsman’s report.

It adds that the councillor may have breached the code by failing to declare a personal interest at meetings but no further action was necessary.