A Powys county councillor will be suspended from all council duties for breaching the Members Code of Conduct - for a second time.
Conservative Gary Price, who represents the Llandrindod Wells North ward, was suspended from all county council business for five months following a hearing of the Standards Committee in Llandrindod Wells today.
Cllr Price did not attend the hearing which decided he broke the code by sendng correspondence which "incorrectly and unfairly portrayed the content of a Grievance Appeal Hearing". The committee said he’d brought his office and the authority into disrepute.
In 2013 Cllr Price was suspended from council duties for one month after he was found to have breached the code of conduct when he disclosed "sensitive information which was given to him in confidence and that he knew or reasonably should have known, it to be confidential". The information related to the council’s proposed closure of the Lakeside restaurant in Llandrindod.
The councillor was at the centre of controversy in 2015 when the Conservatives selected him as their candidate for this year’s Welsh Assembly election.
Some party members complained that he’d stood for Plaid Cymru at the 2011 election and had been suspended from the council in 2013.
He failed to oust then Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams who increased her majority in the target seat to 8,170 at May’s election.
If Councillor Price does not appeal against the ruling, the five month suspension will start 21 from the formal notification of the adjudication.
Members under full suspension are not able take part in any form of business of the authority. In addition if they have been appointed by the council to an outside body, including appointment as a local authority school governor, they cannot act on that body during their suspension.
During a period of suspension neighbouring councillors will be asked to provide cover on behalf of ward residents.