Covid breaches part of 13 investigations into Sandwell councillors
The number of probes into alleged wrongdoing by Sandwell councillors has almost doubled in three months according to a report being presented this week.
Council bosses are now conducting 13 investigations into local politicians ranging from interfering in a land sale, breaching Covid regulations and making defamatory statements.
The growing number of complaints has already forced the borough to hire more staff to carry out the work.
A report to the borough’s ethical standards and member development committee meeting on Friday lists allegation of leaking confidential information, inappropriate behaviour to council staff, claims a councillor influenced a land sale and breaches of the Covid 19 regulations.
Two cases date back to 2019 including an accusation a council member did not co-operate fully with a previous investigation.
None of the local politicians have been named but three of the allegations are believed to relate to one councillor.
At a meeting in September members of the Standards Committee said claims Covid-19 guidelines were breached were especially serious and called for a deadline for investigations to be completed.
In response, council officers said they were hiring more staff to deal with the number of cases.
Investigations into six of the 13 cases will completed by the end of this month after which the committee will decide if any disciplinary action should be taken.
Final reports on a further five cases are expected between January and February next year.
Separate to the council’s investigations, the Labour Party has suspended the membership of four councillors while a further two are the subject of internal complaints.
