Ex-MLA denies lobbying Sinn Féin MP over standards probe

A former Alliance Party assembly member has denied lobbying a Sinn Féin MP over a standards investigation into his conduct.

Patrick Brown said the claims were "further politicking" after Chris Hazzard said he felt "uneasy" about the approach.

Details of the Sinn Féin allegation are contained in a report by the Standards Commissioner published last week.

The commissioner had been investigating how confidential information about a probe into Mr Brown had been leaked to the media.

It focused on a complaint into Brown's conduct towards Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, County Down.

Investigations by the commissioner Melissa McCullough are considered by the Northern Ireland Assembly's standards and privileges committee.

It is made up of members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) and recommends to the wider assembly whether any sanctions should be imposed.

In an email to the commissioner on 22 April, Hazzard claimed Mr Brown had asked to meet him in his office on 4 March “for a quick chat”.

The South Down MP added: “He then proceeded to ask that I use whatever influence I had to ensure he had a fair hearing from the committee.

“He stressed that he believed the complaint was vacuous but he wasn’t being given a fair opportunity to put forward his case.”

Hazzard described it as an “inappropriate approach”, and said he told Mr Brown he would not be speaking to any committee member about the issue.

“In all honesty I didn’t really think about the discussion again for a few weeks but recently it has sat uneasy on my mind and I felt it was best to bring it to your attention,” he added.

The following day, the Alliance Party issued a statement saying that Mr Brown had resigned “with immediate effect due to personal reasons”.

In July the committee published its report, which found Mr Brown breached Stormont's code of conduct in his actions towards the integrated school.

Brown described the complaint against him as "vexatious".

The committee decided not to examine Hazzard’s claims further, saying it was “not an effective use of public resources”.

Brown added that the standards and privileges committee did not approach him about Hazzard's claims during the investigation and said "if there were any merit to these claims they would have been included in the Commissioner’s report".

Hazzard’s correspondence was disclosed on Friday in a report by the commissioner into alleged leaks to the media.

It followed a complaint by Brown over BBC News NI making enquiries earlier this year about Hazzard’s email.

The commissioner’s 129-page report found there had been an “unauthorised disclosure of confidential information”.

Brown said that he was glad the committee had investigated the breach and put in place safeguards for future, but was disappointed that the origin of the breach was not identified.

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín, chair of the standards committee, said measures have been introduced to “further strengthen its confidentiality procedures”.

She said it is “imperative that the confidentiality of complaints is upheld until the consideration, investigation and adjudication of complaints has concluded”.