Former councillor Angela Gregg has demanded an apology from Hadleigh Town Council after making a formal complaint to the authorities monitoring office.

Ms Gregg put in a Code of Conduct complaint to Babergh, naming mayor Frank Minns as the Hadleigh leading member and councillor Gavin Talbot, who she has alleged led a bullying campaign against her.

In her complaint Ms Gregg claims Cllr Talbot, to humiliate her in front of fellow councillors and others attending a meeting to discuss the Porch Project in September 2019 regarding was totally misleading and a complete set up, which was confirmed in a subsequent email.

She said: "I formally received an apology from the chairman and manager of the Porch Project but since seeing this email I expect a public apology from Gavin Talbot who was very involved with the Porch Project at the time and represents Hadleigh Together."

Ms Gregg is upset after having 17 code of conducts made against her by fellow councillors, predominately by members of Hadleigh Together, when she held office between 2019 and 2021, but all were rejected by the monitoring officer.

In her official complaint Ms Gregg said: "...There were a total of 17 CoC issued to Babergh Monitoring Officers but not one was upheld.

"Furthermore an investigation was carried out by an external source which took one year to complete and again this was not upheld but cost £4,000 of public money.

"These CoC complaints were unnecessary and I believe I was bullied and targeted by Hadleigh Together and other town council staff during my two years in office simply because I was asking questions and wanting policies and procedures followed correctly, which Hadleigh Together failed daily to adhere to.

"I would like a full public apology and written apology from Hadleigh Town Council because of how I was treated."

However, while the complaint against Cllr Talbot can be investigated, the monitoring officer can only deal with complaints against specific councillors and not its salaried staff, or the body as a whole.

Cllr Minns, as the council's leading councillor, is named but no specific allegation have been made against him personally.

Ms Gregg also said she would like to see all councillors have training about what constitutes a code of conduct matter to reduce the number they submit to the monitoring officers.

However, since Ms Gregg left the council, all current members have had the opportunity to attend training by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) which includes a section on codes of conduct.

Cllrs Talbot and Minns were approached for comment. Cllr Talbot failed to respond at all, while Cll Minns said: "I'm surprised to learn of these complaints but it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage."

[H3]Code of Conduct procedure[H3]

Selflessness.

Objectivity.

Openness.

Leadership.

There is also a Code of Conduct councillors must adhere to and any complaints will be initially investigated by the Babergh monitoring officer. If no breach of the code is found then no further action will be taken.

The Monitoring officer can refer to an independent person to review cases and suggest any sanctions.

See the full Code of Conduct procedure here...

*Jackie Weaver calls for tougher sanction for erring councillors