Ex-council leader ‘breached code of conduct’ for not disclosing shares

The former leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council leader breached the members code of conduct by not disclosing personal interests in relation to a City Deal investment, according to a report.

Councillor Dave Poole resigned as leader in September last year and referred himself to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

As leader of the Labour-run council from May 2017, Cllr Poole was also a cabinet member of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, which in September 2017 agreed to buy the former LG Semiconductor site at Newport’s Imperial Park and lease it to tech firm IQE.

Cllr Poole’s register of interests, submitted to Caerphilly Council in June last year, stated he was a “shareholder of IQE.”

The reference was crossed out in September after he sold the shares.

Cllr Poole is reported to have said he bought the shares in the autumn of 2018 and was advised he did not need to declare an interest.

The City Deal’s cabinet will meet on Monday to discuss progress made in response to recommendations from the Wales Audit Office (WAO) following its inquiry into the issue.

It says the WAO concluded that a cabinet member did breach the members code of conduct by not disclosing personal interests.

“The correspondence from WAO received by the City Deal office highlighted that neither CCR officers, regional cabinet nor the accountable body’s monitoring officer were made aware of a cabinet member’s personal interests in relation to a City Deal investment, their conclusion was their non-disclosure breached the member code of conduct.”

A spokeswoman for the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said earlier this week that its investigation into the issue is ongoing.

Councillor Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru council opposition group, said the City Deal report makes it “crystal clear that non-disclosure of personal interests is a breach of the member’s code of conduct.”

Caerphilly Council has been contacted.

Cllr Poole declined to comment.