Conwy councillor who voted from car faces no action

A councillor will face no action after being accused of voting in a meeting while driving his car.

A complaint against Conwy councillor Andrew Wood was made in December, accusing him of raising his hand while the car was moving, which he denied.

Public services ombudsman for Wales Michelle Morris has decided no sanctions will be taken against him.

The decision was made on the grounds that the incident was a "one-off" and police were not investigating.

During the meeting, which was being held remotely, Mr Wood's car appeared to be stationary but later, when he raised his hand to vote, it was moving.

At the time of the incident Mr Wood, an independent member who represents Gele and Llanddulas, did not reply to several messages from BBC Wales, but told the Daily Post: "I can tell you I have not done a Zoom meeting while driving a vehicle.

"The only time I have ever attended a meeting whilst in my vehicle would have been an audio meeting only.

"I play it through my Bluetooth, other than that I do not have a clue as it's never been pointed out to me. I know nothing about it."

Opposition members of the authority, however, described his actions as "completely reckless".

Ms Morris said her investigation centred on whether he had breached the council's code of conduct by bringing his office or authority into disrepute.

In her decision, which has just been published, she said: "The video footage from the first council meeting showed the member to be driving a vehicle whilst participating in the meeting and the member acknowledged that this was the case.

"The member felt it important that he attend all meetings. Subsequent videos showed the car either to be stationary or that the member was in the passenger seat."

North Wales Police has not received a complaint and feels it would not now be in the public interest to investigate the matter.

Ms Morris said Mr Wood's actions "demonstrated poor judgement and had the potential to bring the council into disrepute".

She concluded that as it was a single incident and there was no criminal investigation, no action would be taken, but her decision would be held on record and taken into account if similar behaviour were to happen again.