Cllr. Steven Bletsoe – also an Independent county councillor for Bridgend Central – has been suspended from Bridgend Town Council for six months by BCBC’s Standards Committee.
The hearing is available to watch here.
The Public Services Ombudsman investigated a complaint that Cllr. Bletsoe breached the Code of Conduct by failing to declare an interest and seeking to influence a decision that would have favoured his wife – fellow Independent town and county councillor, Cllr. Freya Bletsoe.
The complaint was made after what’s described as a “dispute” (subject to a separate investigation, which reported back in February 2025) between Cllr. Freya Bletsoe and the Town Council’s Clerk at a meeting of the Town Council’s Regeneration Committee.
The Clerk believed this exchange amounted to “bullying and intimidation” and a word-for-word accounting of what happened was included in the draft minutes.
At a later meeting to ratify the minutes, Cllr. (Steven) Bletsoe suggested the final minutes should mention the dispute – and include that his wife apologised – but not include any further details.
The Ombudsman concluded that Cllr. Bletsoe failed to declare a “personal and prejudicial” interest in the item as a spouse.
Also, while there was no evidence he attempted to influence the decision outside the council chamber, he gave an opinion on what should be recorded in the minutes. The Ombudsman considered this an attempt to influence the outcome of a meeting in a way that would have been advantageous to Freya Bletsoe.
Bias row Ombudsman investigator “had discussed the case”
At the beginning of the meeting, Cllr. Bletsoe requested a postponement pending further clarification from the Ombudsman’s office.
Although his formal request for information had been turned down, the Ombudsman confirmed that a senior investigator, Sinead Cook – who recently resigned over accusations of political bias and is claimed to have made “derogatory comments” about Cllr. Bletsoe under an assumed identity – discussed his case internally.
Procedure vs Truth: Councillor was ensuring “minutes were true and accurate”
In his defence, Cllr. Bletsoe said this case was about whether the minutes were accurate – which wasn’t disputed by the Ombudsman.
He further argued that the “rules were wrong” if councillors could be punished for being truthful. The case also sets a precedent that if a Clerk writes something that a town or community councillor didn’t say, that couldn’t be disputed.
The minutes were recorded by the Clerk and, in his opinion, were “one-sided”. It was right to note the disagreement but nothing more, while no councillor who sat on the regeneration committee was asked by the Ombudsman to give evidence.
When it was put to Cllr. Bletsoe that concerns about the minutes should have been taken to BCBC’s Monitoring Officer, he said that he had been told the Monitoring Officer’s powers concerning community councils were limited. He wasn’t aware he could ask for opinions or dispensation for certain declarations of interest either.
Following deliberations by the Standards Committee, BCBC Monitoring Officer (Senior Legal Officer), Kelly Watson, said Cllr. Bletsoe had tried to “undermine the process” and didn’t understand personal and prejudicial interests. Having signed a declaration of office he agreed to abide by rules even if he disagrees with them.
Cllr. Bletsoe is also an experienced councillor, with the number of breaches and his lack of remorse being aggravating factors.
Subsequently, the Committee decided to suspend him as a town councillor for 6 months, with an option to appeal.
