Former parish council chairman breaches Code of Conduct

Douglas Staples was investigated after a formal complaint was made to the district council.
The council’s monitoring officer appointed an external investigator and following reports the matter was referred back to the district council’s standards committee for an outcome.
The matter was brought before the committee in December, and was heard behind closed doors in a confidential section of the meeting.
Having taken into account the investigators’ reports and statements from the complainants, the standards board found Mr Staples did fail to comply with the code of conduct.
As a result of the findings, the district council decided that a formal letter be sent to Mr Staples and a press release was issued.
Mr Staples can challenge the decision by way of a judicial review in the High Court.
West Berkshire Council spokesman Keith Ulyatt said that as the item had been discussed at a confidential meeting of the standards committee he was unable to answer further questions.
Mr Staples, a former engineer, was a member of the parish council from July 2005 but resigned in September 2011.