Bridgend Council’s Standards Committee has stuck by its original decision to suspend Cllr. Steven Bletsoe (in his capacity as a Bridgend Town councillor) for six months.
Cllr. Bletsoe – who is also an Independent county councillor (his county councillor role being unaffected by this) – was provisionally suspended for failing to declare a proper interest. It revolved around attempts to alter minutes that recorded an argument between the Clerk of Bridgend Town Council and his wife – and at the time fellow town councillor – Cllr. Freya Bletsoe. This argument (and others) was subject to a separate investigation by the Public Services Ombudman and Adjudication Panel for Wales, which reported back in February 2025.
In May 2024, the Standards Committee found that Cllr. Bletsoe has breached several clauses of the Code of Conduct.
These included the general breach of bringing an authority into disrepute; using his position to secure an advantage for himself or someone else; failing to declare a personal or prejudicial interest and breaches around remaining in a meeting that was discussing an item he had a personal interest in.
At the time, it was argued his years of experience as a councillor (implying he should’ve been aware of rules around interests), seeming lack of remorse and the number of breaches were “aggravating factors”.
Cllr. Bletsoe subsequently appealed.
At the start of the year, the Adjudication Panel for Wales – the tribunal which hears appeals concerning standards committee decisions – published their recommendation that the suspension be cut to 10 weeks. Although they accepted that Cllr Bletsoe deserved a suspension, they were satisfied that Cllr. Bletsoe was trying to ensure the accuracy of the minutes.
They concluded that the breaches were minor in scope and didn’t justify the maximum length of suspension available to the Standards Committee.
The final decision, however, remained with the Standards Committee. They met yesterday and upheld their original decision.
The Committee concluded that no additional significant information had come to light that would make them reconsider their original discussions. Also, the Adjudication Panel hearing had heard “a very different set of statements”, including “some elements of remorse”, than the Committee did at the original hearing in May 2024.
They also “strongly cautioned” against any repeat of social media and press comments on their decision (presumably referring to Cllr. Bletsoe himself).
The suspension comes into effect today (7th February 2025). The only further route of appeal is to seek a judicial review at the High Court – but this wouldn’t stay the suspension and would likely take longer than 6 months to complete.
