Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 18 November 2025
Back to Community Council Conduct Review Panel — 18 November 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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MINUTES of MEETING of COMMUNITY COUNCIL CONDUCT REVIEW PANEL held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on TUESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2025 Present: Councillor John Armour (Chair) Councillor Fiona Howard Community Councillor Tom McCowan Community Councillor Sheelagh O’Reilly Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Shona Barton, Governance Manager (Independent Adviser) Fiona McCallum, Committee Services Officer (Minutes) 1. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR The Governance Manager welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the Panel to nominate a Chair for the proceedings. It was unanimously agreed to appoint Councillor John Armour as Chair of this Conduct Review Panel. 2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE There were no apologies for absence. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillor John Armour intimated that he knew the complainer as a Councillor and that he has done for a number of years. He confirmed he did not feel this prevented him from being able to stay in the meeting. Councillor Fiona Howard and Councillor Peter Wallace also confirmed they knew the complainer as a Councillor and confirmed they would remain in the meeting. 4. OBAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL - COMPLAINT REFERRALS Having assumed the role of Chair, Councillor Armour advised that his first task was to establish whether members of the Panel had sufficient information before them to discuss and determine the subject of the complaint. The Panel agreed that they had sufficient information before them. It was noted that the Council had received complaints relating to the conduct of Oban Community Council. A referral under paragraph 13.2.1 of the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Argyll and Bute (2022) had been submitted to the Community Council Liaison Officer. These complaints have been referred to the Conduct Review Panel as they referred to the conduct of half or more of the members of Oban Community Council. The Independent Adviser provided guidance to the Panel in relation to consideration of these complaints. Consideration was given to a report providing information of the detail contained within the complaints, the response to the complaints from the Chair of Oban Community Council and an individual member of Oban Community Council, and on the procedure to be followed by the Panel in terms of dealing with the complaints.
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Complaint 1 – Defamatory, false and inappropriate statements made during a public meeting The Panel were of the opinion that the remarks made by the Chair of Oban Community Council at a Community Council meeting held on 29 September 2025 were not directed at anyone in particular. It was agreed that the remarks made may have been unwise but were not personal. The Panel agreed that there was no breach in this instance. The Panel were of the opinion that at this same meeting, Community Councillor Marri Malloy had breached the Code of Conduct for Community Councillors as it was believed her remarks were made directly about a local Councillor who was identified as the Chair of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee. The Panel agreed that in this case the Community Councillor had breached the following principle of the Code of Conduct for Community Councillors: • Respect Complaint 2 – Breach of confidentiality by Community Councillor In this case the Complainer had advised that she had been informed that a Community Councillor had been telling members of the public that the Complainer had submitted a complaint about incidents. The Panel were of the view that there was no evidence to confirm whether the Community Councillor had identified the Complainer to members of the public. They advised that it was also not clear who made the complaint public, or when. They commented that it was not clear if the Community Council had been informed they should not be disclosing to anyone that a complaint had been made and by whom. As the Panel were not in a position to say whether or not the identity of the Complainer had been shared with members of the public, they agreed that they could not conclude that there was a breach in this respect. Complaint 3 – Unauthorised sharing of meeting footage The Panel were of the view that it was not clear if the footage viewed by the Complainer was a recording made by the Community Council. It was noted that the complaint had been made on 29 September 2025, the same night of the meeting itself and the Community Councillor being complained about was away from the meeting until the following day and had not been in a position to circulate any recording on the same night of the meeting. The Panel were of the view that there was no breach as this was a public meeting that could have been recorded by anyone. They noted the lack of guidance in relation to meeting recordings and particularly highlighted the requirement for a declaration to be made at the beginning of each meeting to highlight that the meeting would be recorded. The Panel requested that guidance should be issued to all Community Councils regarding good practice eg, declaring at the start of a meeting if it was going to be recorded, disposal of recordings after meetings etc.
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Complaint 4 – Procedural impropriety of the Chair This related to a response from the Chair to the Complainer which was marked “Without Prejudice”. The Complainer advised that this terminology was “wholly inappropriate in this context….”. The Panel were of the view that Community Council Members were volunteers and not legal specialists and that wording may be used in day to day language which did not necessarily align with language used by lawyers. The Panel were of the view that there was no breach in this case as they believed the Chair was making it clear that this was his view before it had been discussed by the Community Council and they did not believe the wording was at all inappropriate. Decision Having considered the information provided within the report and appendices the Panel agreed: 1. That in respect of Complaint 1, in relation to the comments made by the Chair of Oban Community Council there had been no breach found. 2. That in respect of Complaint 1, Community Councillor Marri Malloy’s behaviour at the Oban Community Council meeting held on 29 September 2025 did breach the principle of Respect set out in the Code of Conduct for Community Councillors and that the following sanction set out in the Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils should be imposed – Paragraph 13.5.1 – censure the member in question. 3. That it be suggested in the letter to the Community Councillor that, in the interests of future working, an apology to the Complainer may be appropriate. 4. That in respect of Complaints 2, 3 and 4, there was no breach found. 5. To request the Governance Manager to arrange for guidance to be issued to all Community Councils in Argyll and Bute advising of the correct protocols for dealing with recordings of Community Council meetings. (Reference: Report by Committee Manager dated 18 November 2025, submitted)