The Bradley Stoke Journal

The Bristol Evening Post reports today that Bradley Stoke Town Councillor Jon Williams (Lib Dem) has been found guilty of misconduct by the Standards Committee of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

The ruling follows an incident at a meeting of the Town Council on 3rd December 2008, in which Cllr Williams called his fellow (predominantly Conservative) Councillors “a bunch of w*****s” before storming out of the room.

Cllr Williams’ outburst came during a discussion on the funding of youth work in Bradley Stoke, which led to the Council deciding to work “in partnership” with SGC rather than continuing its existing direct contract with Southern Brooks Community Partnership.

The SGC Standards Committee has ruled that Cllr Williams breached the Councillors’ code of conduct by “failing to treat others with respect” and “bringing his office or authority into disrepute”, according to the paper.

Cllr Williams’ apology for the outburst was “recorded” at a subsequent meeting of the Town Council on 17th December 2008. It seems however that this was not good enough for one of the other Councillors, believed by The Journal to be John Ashe (Conservative), who decided to take the matter to a higher level.

The Standards Committee of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) meets today to consider a complaint made against Bradley Stoke Town Councillor Jon Williams (Liberal Democrat).

The investigation is understood to relate to an incident that occurred at a meeting of the Town Council on 3rd December 2008.

That meeting saw Councillors decide to switch funding for youth work in the town from Southern Brooks Community Partnership to South Gloucestershire Council.

Cllr Williams reacted by calling his fellow (predominantly Conservative) Councillors “a bunch of w*****s” and leaving the meeting.

A written apology from Cllr Williams was “recorded” at the next meeting of Council on 17th December 2008 but it seems that this was not enough for one Conservative Councillor, who subsequently referred the matter to the SGC Standards Committee.

Cllr Williams told The Journal that he will not be attending today’s hearing but has made a written submission.

This will be the second time this year that the SGC Standards Committee has been called to investigate the actions of Bradley Stoke Town Councillors.

An earlier investigation was made into events at a meeting of the Town Council’s Finance Committee on 17th December 2008, where the thorny topic of the Northavon Bowls Club dispute was discussed. The results of that inquiry have not been made public.