A councillor breached North Yorkshire Council’s code of conduct by using a council pool car at weekends for personal business, a panel has ruled.
Councillor Andrew Lee, Conservative member for Appleton Roebuck and Church Fenton division, was also found to have failed to comply with council policy by making mileage claims a “significant time” after travel took place and failing to keep suitable records to support the claims.
But a panel from the council’s standards and governance committee decided that incorrect mileage claims made in February last year were a genuine mistake rather than an attempt to make a false claim.
High mobile phone data usage on a council-owned phone was also a mistake due to incorrect phone settings, the hearings panel ruled.
The panel found that the delay in submitting the expenses was a result of the member not reading the council’s travel and expenses policy.
It concluded that the councillor had breached the member’s code of conduct by not acting in accordance with the authority’s guidance when using its resources, but his conduct had not brought the council into disrepute.
Cllr Lee was told he must repay the council for his use of council-owned pool cars at weekends at a rate of £0.09 per mile and that he should reimburse the council for the mileage claim payments claimed in error.
He was also told to hand back his council-owned mobile phone.
In response to the outcome of the hearing, Cllr Lee said he respected the panel’s decision and accepted the findings in good faith.
“I was cleared of two potential breaches, and where a breach was found, it was an honest mistake resulting from an administrative oversight.
“I’ve served as a councillor for over 20 years without previous issue, and I hope this process helps bring greater clarity for all members in the future.”
The panel made a recommendation that the “limited number of members” who had council mobile phones be invited to return them because members’ basic allowance already covered the cost of phone calls made from their home or mobile phones.
It also proposed that members should not have access to council pool cars without the prior authorisation of the monitoring officer.
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