Panel to rule on case of 'stolen valour' Wolverhampton councillor next week: here are its options
A panel of four councillors will be asked next week to rule on the future of a colleague who falsely claimed to have served as a Royal Marine.
The case of Councillor Greg Brackenridge will be heard by Wolverhampton Council's governance and ethics sub-committee, after an independent investigation found he had committed three breaches of the local government code of conduct.
A meeting of the council's governance and ethics committee agreed to refer the case to a sub-committee made up of Labour Councillors Rita Potter, Paul Brookfield and Iqra Tahir, and Conservative Councillor Simon Bennett.
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The sub-committee, which is due to hear the case on Monday morning, can formally censure Councillor Brackenridge or order him to make an apology, but it does not have the power to remove him from the authority or to suspend his attendance at council meetings.
Councillor Brackenridge, who resigned as chairman of West Midlands Fire Authority in the wake of the allegations, was found by independent investigator Melvin Kenyon to have breached three areas of the code by showing disrespect to members of the public, using his position to improperly gain political advantage, and bringing both his role and the council into disrepute.
Councillor Brackenridge, a former mayor, also resigned as chairman of the city's armed forces covenant board.
Mr Kenyon cited a number of occasions when Councillor Brackenridge had portrayed himself as a former marine, despite having not completed his training.
Chief operating officer David Pattison said: "As the law currently stands, the hearing panel has no power to suspend or disqualify the member, or to withdraw or suspend allowances, or restrict access to or use of council facilities..
"The member is required to discharge their obligation as a ward councillor, and cannot be prevented from attending meetings of full council."
He said the panel could, though, recommend that his group leader remove him from committees, sub-committees or special responsibilities, to provide him with training, or publish the panel's findings.
