The Standards Committee of Devon Council met on Wednesday 29 July 2026 to consider an allegation of a breach of the Members' Code of Conduct. The committee found that there had been breaches of the code in relation to treating others with courtesy and respect, and bringing the office or the Council into disrepute. As a result, the Subject Member was required to make a written apology and undertake bespoke training on the code of conduct.

Allegation of Breach of Members' Code of Conduct

The Standards Committee considered an allegation of a breach of the Members' Code of Conduct against a Subject Member. Following a vote, the committee resolved that there had been breaches of the code in relation to two specific aspects:

• Allegation 1 - Code of Conduct 4(a) – You must treat others with courtesy and respect: The committee found that this aspect of the code had been breached. Four voting members were in favour of this finding, with two voting against and one abstaining.
• Allegation 5 - Code of Conduct 5(i) – You must not conduct yourself in a manner or behave in such a way so as to give a reasonable person the impression that you have brought your office or the Council into disrepute: The committee also found that this aspect of the code had been breached. Four voting members were in favour of this finding, with three voting against.

However, the committee resolved that there had been no breach of the code in relation to Allegation 2 (Code of Conduct 5(b) – You must not do anything which may cause the County Council to breach a statutory duty or any equality enactment), Allegation 3 (Code of Conduct 5(c) – You must not bully any person), and Allegation 4 (Code of Conduct 5(f) – You must not do anything which compromises or is likely to compromise the impartiality of those who work for, or on behalf of, the County Council). For Allegation 2, two members voted in favour of a breach, four against, and one abstained. For Allegation 3, three members voted in favour of a breach, and four against. For Allegation 4, three members voted in favour of a breach, and four against.

Following these findings, the committee discussed potential sanctions. It was resolved that the Subject Member would be required to make a written apology to the complainants. Additionally, the Subject Member will undertake bespoke one-to-one training with the Monitoring Officer¹ within the next three months, focusing on the code of conduct and recognising the impact of their communications on recipients. This training is intended to support the Subject Member in their role while addressing the identified breaches.