Wolverhampton councillor 'failed to declare interests'

Councillor Harman Banger, who has represented East Park since 2011, will now face a committee to decide if he has breached a code of conduct.

He has been the subject of a probe by Wolverhampton council's director of governance, Kevin O'Keefe.

The investigation was launched last July after an anonymous letter was received making allegations of improper conduct on the part of councillor Banger.

It has now emerged the original allegation was that the Labour councillor was not living at his declared address. But reporting his findings to a Standards Committee last month, Mr O'Keefe said there was no evidence to support that claim.

He had, however, found evidence that 'material omissions' had been made from Councillor Banger's register of interests.

The minutes of the meeting state the omissions were 'compounded by a failure to declare those interests at the Licensing Committee, of which Councillor Banger was a member, moreover that, despite the issue being highlighted during the investigation, the omission had not been rectified.'

The Standards Committee, which met on May 9, did not make a decision as to whether the councillor's conduct amounted to a breach of the council's code of conduct.

Councillor Banger will have to face a committee who will meet to consider the allegations in detail at a later date.

• Click here to see the full council code of conduct

The council's code of conduct for members states councillors must comply with statutory requirements to 'register, disclose and withdraw from participating in respect of any matter in which you have a disclosable pecuniary interest.'

It adds: "You must ensure that your register of interests is kept up to date and notify the Monitoring Officer in writing within 28 days of becoming aware of any change in respect of your disclosable pecuniary interests.

Councillors are also required to verbally declare any non-monetary interests.

These include where a decision may affect the well-being or financial standing of a councillor or a member of their family or a close acquaintance.

Mr Banger declined to comment until proceedings have concluded. His home address is listed as Bilston Road, Monmore Green.