A standards committee has ruled that Wakefield councillor Nadiah Sharp brought her office into disrepute after she accepted two code of conduct of breaches.
Reports detail how a complaint was made against the Labour councillor after she “made a personal remark” about a senior officer’s “level of competence and salary”. Following this complaint, a second allegation was made by another council officer.
The comments are said to have been made during a council scrutiny committee hearing in January.
A standards committee said Nadiah Sharp brought her office into disrepute after she accepted two code of conduct of breaches.
Documents say the officer was left “feeling upset and undermined” after Cllr Sharp sent an “unnecessary” e-mail and copied in the council’s chief executive, Andrew Balchin.
Both complaints were investigated and referred to a standards hearing after Cllr Sharp’s conduct was judged to have “fallen below the standards required” under the code of conduct.
In a private meeting, on Friday, 1st September, an agreement was reached on a course of action prior to the hearing after discussions between parties involved.
Cllr Sharp’s representative told the committee that she had not intended either breach and was a relatively new councillor at the time. The committee ordered for her to apologise in writing to both officers.
She must also attend a one-to-one training session on the code of conduct and attend a meeting with the monitoring officer and chief executive.
Wakefield Council’s chief legal officer, Gillian Marshall, said: “Wakefield Council expects all elected members to uphold high standards of conduct when carrying out their duties.
“If complaints are made, we have a clear process in place to deal with them.
“We do not condone any actions that breach the code of conduct.
“The council will ensure all the sanctions imposed by the standards committee are implemented.”
