Adur District Councillor apologises after ‘significant’ breach of council conduct

Councillor Catherine Arnold, Labour, who represents St Mary’s Ward in Shoreham, said she made ‘an error of judgement’ by disclosing confidential information relating to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee to a third party, in breach of Adur District Council’s Code of Conduct.

It came after councillor Stephen Chipp made a complaint to the council, which then held an internal investigation about the matter, according to a censure notice published on the councils’ website.

On November 4, the council’s Joint Governance Sub-Committee found that councillor Arnold had breached the code of conduct by disclosing the information.

A spokesman for Adur and Worthing councils said: “Following a hearing before a cross-party committee of councillors, councillor Arnold admitted having breached the Adur District Council Code of Conduct by disclosing confidential information relating to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) to a third party.

“The committee considered the breach to be significant and have required councillor Arnold to provide a written apology to the joint chairmen of JOSC within 14 days and attend further training.

“Members also censured councillor Arnold which means a formal statement regarding her conduct will be made public on the councils’ website.”

In a statement to the Herald, councillor Arnold said: “I made an error of judgement, for which I have apologised and learnt from.

“I will undertake training and have issued an apology.”

The censure notice can be viewed on the council’s website here.

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