Blaenau Gwent councillor suspended for nine months (From South Wales Argus)

Blaenau Gwent councillor suspended for nine months

11:10am Wednesday 13th May 2009

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A VALLEYS councillor was suspended yesterday after complaints of intimidation and inappropriate behaviour against him were upheld.

Abertillery councillor Nigel Daniels appeared before the Adjudication Panel for Wales amid allegations that he breached Blaenau Gwent Council's code of conduct in relation to officer Tracey Jukes, claims he had denied.

The panel heard allegations that Cllr Daniels threatened to "knock her off her pedestal" and called the team she worked for a “religious sect.”

Mrs Jukes, who then worked in the governance department, claimed that the then deputy leader of the council and executive member for governance shouted at her over the phone, giving her a "verbal lashing" on April 17 2007 over member training.

He allegedly acted "inappropriately" at a portfolio meeting on April 18 and at a meeting the following week.

"It left me feeling bullied and intimidated," she told the panel.

Cllr Daniels, who was suspended from the council's Labour group in September 2007 when the investigation was launched, said at no time did he realise or was he made aware that he had upset Mrs Jukes and if he had been informed he would have apologised.

He completely denied all the allegations and said when he was informed of the investigation it came "as a bolt out of the blue."

References were made to Cllr Daniels' mannerisms, twitching with a pen, shuffling in his seat and going red in the face.

Mrs Jukes claimed that when he started doing that, officers knew to look out, but Cllr Daniels said that he was on medication for a prolapsed disc and that was the cause of his shuffling and red face.

He put the twitching a pen down to habit.

He completely denied claims from Mrs Jukes that he threatened to "knock her off her pedestal" and had never used the phrase "religious sect."

He said that during the phone call his manner remained calm and he was not annoyed.

Chief Executive Robin Morrison described Cllr Daniels as "robust and challenging" and that he could be "argumentative and awkward."

• Blaenau Gwent Council said after the hearing it co-operated fully with the Ombudsman’s enquiries into this serious complaint and " remain strongly committed to ensuring that effective working relationships exist so that all our efforts are clearly focussed on delivering services for the local people."

Findings of the panel

The panel found Cllr Daniels had intimidated and acted inappropriately towards Mrs Jukes on the phone on April 17 and at the meeting of April 18 due to the "overwhelming evidence against him." They did not find that he had done anything wrong at the April 25 meeting. They did not find he had bullied her on any of the three occasions. It concluded that Cllr Daniels had breached the code of conduct by failing to show respect to another officer and he had brought his position of elected member into disrepute. Cllr Daniels will be suspended for the next nine months.

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