McEvoy may face Senedd rules breach investigation
CONCERNS have been raised after an Assembly member who is currently suspended from his group and council position allegedly breached Assembly rules.
Plaid Cymru’s Neil McEvoy could face an investigation after what has been claimed as a breach of Assembly rules.
Yesterday he invited press to a “Neil McEvoy AM weekly press conference” which was held at the media briefing room in the Senedd. At that meeting he handed out copies of his manifesto for the upcoming council elections.
He is currently suspended as a Cardiff councillor after a panel found he had shown “bullying behaviour” to a council officer.
The Assembly Member’s Code of Conduct says that “members are required to comply with the ‘Rules and Guidance on the Use of Assembly Resources’ and any guidance on the use of Assembly resources specifically relating to an election campaign.”
That document says that AMs can only use “Assembly Resources for the purpose of their activities as Assembly Members only”. It lists three prohibited activities. They are:
Personal, business or commercial communications;
party-political activity of any kind, for example, party-political fundraising, recruitment of party members and the organisation and publicising of party-political meetings;
campaigning for the election or reelection of particular candidates for any public office (including the member in question).
Welsh Conservative AM Janet FinchSaunders has written to Presiding Officer Elin Jones raising concerns about that meeting. She said: “It is my understanding that using the Assembly estate for campaigning purposes is strictly forbidden, and as such I am writing to ask you formally to investigate the event in question.
“In particular, I am seeking your judgement as to whether Mr McEvoy’s event constituted an abuse of public resources, given its nakedly partisan nature. I am confident that you will share my concern – and the concerns of constituents across the country – that the Senedd should not be used as a conduit for launching the political programmes of Plaid Cymru, or indeed any other political party.”
A Welsh Assembly spokeswoman said: “Assembly officials are looking into the events described in accordance with our processes and policies.”
Mr McEvoy said: “Some people really are scraping the barrel now, trying to stop the Cardiff Plaid campaign to win our capital city. They need to spend less time worrying about what I’m doing and more time worrying about the real issues people face.
“I asked to be invoiced for the room, so I’m hiring the Assembly’s facilities. If I’ve paid for the room I don’t see what the problem is with handing out a sheet of paper.”
The seven pledges on the manifesto include “restructuring senior management of Cardiff council”. It was a comment about that planned restructure which saw the independent Adjudication Panel for Wales suspend him as a councillor. He was ruled to have issued the comment to a council officer as a threat in what the panel described as “bullying behaviour”.