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RAY MALLON brought his office into disrepute in the way he dealt with issues relating to Middlesbrough’s taxis, a watchdog has ruled.
The Standards Board for England found three breaches of its code of conduct after investigating complaints over how the mayor handled a row over the borough’s trade.
But the board has ruled no sanctions should be applied.
And it cleared Mr Mallon over secretly-recorded conversations with Boro Cars boss Mohammed Bashir, in which the mayor made an insulting reference regarding the sex life of a female council official.
That is because the Standards Board concluded he was acting as a private individual at the time.
The Standards Board upheld complaints that Mr Mallon:
Brought his office or authority into disrepute, and
Failed to declare a personal interest when required to do so on two separate occasions.
But the watchdog dismissed allegations that he:
Failed to treat others with respect;
Compromised the impartiality of council officers, and
Used his position improperly to confer an advantage.
A report found the relationship between Mr Mallon and Mr Bashir had been that of “close associate”.
It was at Mr Bashir’s request that the mayor became personally involved in matters relating to the borough’s taxi trade - particularly in trying to resolve a row between Boro Cars and the local hackney carriage trade over access to Morrisons at Berwick Hills.
The report states Mr Mallon’s involvement gave Mr Bashir access to senior officers he might not otherwise have had without that “close association”.
But it adds there was no evidence to suggest Mr Mallon tried to influence officers into making a particular decision or favour one side over another during the period.
The Standards Board found the mayor breached the Code when he failed to declare an interest in the taxi trade during two Executive meetings.
But the report states he was “consistently open” in referencing his association with Mr Bashir in the first - and that the “sheer chaos” surrounding the second made it understandable he did not do so.
“The ethical standards officer took into account that Mr Mallon accepted he should have declared an interest on both occasions,” the board added.
The standards officer also looked at complaints surrounding the secretly-taped telephone conversations. It cleared Mr Mallon of breaching the code by:
Making disrespectful comments about a female council officer;
Lying about having apologised to that council officer, and
Making unsubstantiated comments relating to illegal charging by Asian taxi drivers and referred to taxi drivers as “thick”.
“The ethical standards officer found Mr Mallon had apologised to the council officer for the comments that were subsequently published in the press,” the report adds.
“As such, he did not lie about the matter.”
The Standards Board found the comments were part of a private conversation and that Mr Mallon was not acting in his official capacity as mayor at the time.
The investigating officer took into account his right to a private life and found that, in the conversations, he had not been conducting the business of the authority.
The views expressed were Mr Mallon’s private opinions, she ruled.
But she also found that the mayor had brought his office into disrepute over actively seeking to assist Mr Bashir in a court case against the council as he came under “pressure” to try to get the dispute resolved.
“While she considered Mr Mallon lacked judgment in this regard, she does not doubt that his intentions were to get the taxi dispute resolved in a fair and equitable manner,” adds the report. “The ethical standards officer has decided no further action needs to be taken.”
Mr Mallon today told the Gazette that his interventions were “well-intentioned” and that he found it “ironic” he was found to have been in breach of the Code for “attempting to assist one of the complainants”.
“The fact that they (the Standards Board) feel there is no need for further action confirms that these were technical breaches,” added the mayor.
“Had they not been, there is little doubt I would have faced a full hearing.
“I hope this judgment now draws a line under this chapter and we can move forward for the good of the town and its taxpayers.”
Nobody from Boro Cars was available for comment today.
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