Independent investigation
A LEADING barrister will independently review the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales after the dismissal of an investigator.
The Ombudsman’s office investigates complaints made by the public about public bodies and councillors accused of breaking their codes of conduct.
Two of the Ombudsman’s principles are impartiality and independence.
A series of social media posts by former Head Investigator Sinead Cook suggested she breached guidelines on political impartiality.
Ms Cook used a Twitter account called @ SweetlittleSewandsew and posted messages using the aliases Schnade Cee and Smoogi Cookster.
In one addressing Gary Lineker’s suspension from Match of The Day, Ms Cook
asked why people “are not talking about the fact the Government is trying to pass a Bill which is incompatible with the Human Rights Act and morally reprehensible”, signing off: “F*** the Tories.”
Referring to Bridgend’s Conservative MP, Jamie Wallis, she wrote: “If the people of Bridgend didn’t have a sense of humour, he would never have been elected.
“He’s a joke.”
She lambasted former PM Boris Johnson as “entitled” and told TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp to “speak to your Tory buddies about feeding kids in England”.
She also accused former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell of being an “awful human being” who was “spouting Tory nonsense back in the 90s”.
The Twitter account has now been deleted.
Welsh Conservatives seized upon her comments, which included a post praising former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as evidence of political bias not only from Ms Cook but also on the part of the Ombudsman Service.
The key issue is not only actual bias but also the appearance of bias in decision- making.
Although Laboursupporting social media warriors pursued a reductive “Tories can’t take the truth” line regarding the scandal, it takes little effort to imagine how they’d react if the shoe were on the other foot.
Writing on the Conservative Home website, Andrew RT Davies said: “Cook’s conduct is particularly egregious because of the nature of her role.
“As the Ombudsman’s Head of Investigations, she was responsible