Bracknell Forest Council’s code of conduct panel upheld a complaint against Cllr Dorothy Hayes following a hearing on Tuesday, 10 December.
The panel was asked to consider a complaint against Cllr Hayes and found that she had broken the councillor code of conduct.
The complaint was made by Susan Halliwell, chief executive, and was in relation to an incident on 12 March 2024 when Cllr Hayes used inappropriate language in front of 2 council staff.
The complaint was made by Mrs Halliwell as the head of paid service. It was lodged because it was believed that Cllr Hayes’ behaviour breached the code of conduct by:
- not treating others with respect
- bullying or harassing a person
- bringing the council into disrepute
The panel, which was made up of 3 councillors from different political parties and an independent person, heard from the council’s monitoring officer, an independent investigator and from Cllr Hayes’ representative.
During the hearing, Cllr Hayes accepted that her cited behaviour had broken the code of conduct and offered her apologies to those who had been affected. Her representative also made it clear to the panel that she expressed remorse.
The panel upheld the complaint and agreed that the sanction should be:
- the panel publishing its decision by issuing a press release
- the monitoring officer arranging training around appropriate behaviour for Cllr Hayes
- Cllr Hayes writing an apology to the complainant in an open letter
- the panel referring the matter to the party whip so the political group may consider what action to take under its own procedures
Cllr Nick Allen, chair of the panel, said:
“As publicly elected members of the community, it’s extremely important that all councillors uphold the expected values and behaviours of the council and abide by the code of conduct.
“This hearing shows that when councillors act inappropriately, we will take action. The panel found that Cllr Dorothy Hayes had broken the councillors’ code of conduct. While we took in to account her remorse and apology, it was only right that a public sanction was made so our community knows we will not stand for inappropriate behaviour.”