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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
Vice Chair Kerry Watkins and Cllr William Routley
No Declarations of Interest were declared at this stage of the meeting. Please see below under Agenda Item 8.
The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Resolved The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 15th January 2026 were agreed as a true and accurate record.
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The Monitoring Officer (MO) confirmed that there were no new complaints of a Standards nature to be reported to the Standards Committee.
The Chair confirmed that the relevant documentation from the most recent meeting of the National Standards Committee Forum held on 26th January 2026 had been circulated to the Committee for information purposes.
The Chair declared an interest that he serves as a Chair of Governors at Newport High School where Cllr Cleverly is a Local Authority (LA) Governor. Cllr Cockeram declared an interest that he is a LA Governor at Newport High School with Cllr Cleverly. The Chair confirmed that the Committee was quorate. The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented the report. The DMO informed the Committee that there was a minor error in the Report and that the phone call had occurred on 9th August and not in April as noted in the Report. The Committee considered the Exclusion of the Press and Public. The DMO highlighted to the Committee that the appendices to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) report, including a recording of a telephone call, that had been made available to the Committee were exempt from publication under s.100BA(2) and paragraph 12 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. The DMO informed the Committee that there was a presumption that the Hearing was to be held in public unless exempt under section 12a of the Local Government Act and highlighted the relevant section to the Committee. The Committee agreed to exclude the recording of the phone call and any discussion relating directly to its contents from the Press and Public under s.100BA(2) and paragraph 13 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. The Committee were asked to determine the Findings of Fact. Cllr Cleverly confirmed that she did not dispute the facts as presented in the report. The press and public were briefly excluded for the Committee to listen to the recording of the phone call. Cllr Cleverly provided a brief account to the Committee regarding the reasons for the call as well as the call itself. Cllr Whitehead made reference to the quality of the call, the MO noted that the speakers available in the room as well as background noise had negatively impacted on the quality. The Committee were asked to consider whether the Code of Conduct was breached. The DMO highlighted the comments of the PSOW and reported that while three potential breaches were investigated, the PSOW only found support for breaches under paragraphs 4(a) and 4(b), but not under paragraph 6(1)(a). Cllr Cleverly, Cllr Whitehead and the press and public were excluded whilst the Committee deliberated on whether there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct. The Committee reported back that they had concluded that Cllr Cleverly had breached the Code of Conduct under paragraphs 4(a), 4(b) and 6(1)(a). The DMO provided an overview of the sanctions available to Committee as well as a brief explanation of each option. The Chair invited representations of mitigation to be made. Both Cllr Cleverly and Cllr Whitehead addressed the Committee regarding Cllr Cleverly's background, the impact of the proceedings on her, and her expressed apologies. The Committee asked the below questions of Cllr Cleverly: - The Committee queried whether Cllr Cleverly accepted that to members of the public her actions during the phone call and email would not reflect well on her. Cllr Cleverly responded that some may but that she could not speak for others. - The Committee queried whether Cllr Cleverly thought that her actions could reflect badly on the public’s perception of the conduct of other elected members. Cllr Cleverly stated that she couldn’t say. Cllr Cleverly, Cllr Whitehead and the press and public were excluded whilst the Committee deliberated the appropriate sanction. The Chair reported on behalf of the Committee that the Standards Committee were concerned about Cllr Cleverly’s conduct during the incident. The Chair continued that the Committee were minded to impose a suspension but agreed to reduce this to a Censure on Cllr Cleverly providing an undertaking that she would commit to undertaking appropriate training as determined by the Head of Democratic Services. The Chair added that updates on Cllr Cleverly’s training would be provided to the Standards Committee at their next meeting. The Committee therefore resolved as follows: i. That the facts of the matter were as set out in the Ombudsman’s report; and ii. That the actions of Cllr Cleverly described therein amounted to a breach of paragraphs 4(a), 4(b) and 6(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct; And upon receiving an undertaking from Cllr Cleverly to undertake such further training as the Head of Democratic Services shall determine to be appropriate, the Committee further resolved: iii. To censure Cllr Cleverly; and iv. To direct the Head of Democratic Services to report to the Committee at its next meeting on the nature of the training which had been arranged and on Cllr Cleverly’s engagement with such training.
Thursday, 16th July 2026 at 5.30pm
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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