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The First-tier Tribunal's Final Decision on the conduct of Councillor Anne Bishop
19 January 2010
In response to the First-tier Tribunal's decision on the conduct of Councillor Anne Bishop, Standards for England has issued the following statement:
Following a Standards for England (SfE) investigation, Councillor Anne Bishop has been found to have breached several parts of the members’ Code of Conduct by the Adjudication Panel for England (APE), now known as the First-tier Tribunal (Local Government Standards in England).
The First-tier Tribunal agreed with SfE’s ethical standards officer’s view that Councillor Bishop had breached the parts of the Code of Conduct concerned with compromising the impartiality of officers of an authority and seeking to improperly confer an advantage for herself. She was also found to have breached the Code in relation to bringing her own office as Councillor, and the Council itself, into disrepute.
The Tribunal found that Councillor Bishop ‘failed abysmally’ to divorce her private capacity from her position as a Councillor and sought to use that position to gain advantage for herself.
The sanction imposed on Councillor Bishop is disqualification from being or becoming a councillor for two years, commencing today (18 January 2010).
Standards for England welcome the Tribunal’s decision, which demonstrates to the public that councillors whose ethical conduct falls so far short of the standard they expect of them, can be brought to account.
Notes for editors
For further details of the decision, please visit www.adjudicationpanel.tribunals.gov.uk
For media enquiries, contact the press office on 0161 817 5400 or email press.enquiries@standardsforengland.gov.uk.
