A Hadleigh town councillor has today branded a hearing into his failure to make an apology to the town mayor 'a waste of time and taxpayers' money', especially when an investigation into prejudicial comments were deemed to be inappropriate.

A hearing by Suffolk's joint standards' board at Endeavour House, in Ipswich today, were told Cllr Andrew Knock believed he had already said sorry following a code of conduct complaint.

But Hadleigh mayor Frank Minns and town clerk Wendy Brame complained that Cllr Knock had not fully complied with sanctions imposed by the Babergh deputy monitoring officer, following a code of complaint that was upheld against him for talking over the chair.

Cllr Knock has now been told he must apologise in person to the mayor after the formal complaints hearing found had not done so when making a general public apology to everyone at a meeting, including all councillors as shown on the video of the meeting.

Emily Yule, monitoring officer for Babergh said: "A meeting of the Joint Standards Board Sub-committee was held today to consider Cllr Knock's non-compliance with the sanction regarding his breach of the code of conduct, as recommended.

"The sub-committee found that Cllr Knock had not sufficiently carried out the recommended sanction and resolved that he should comply with the sanction at the next meeting of Hadleigh Town Council.

" A formal decision notice on this will be published shortly."

Cllr Knock admitted he was amazed at the outcome, and how this was deemed a good use of public, while an investigation into Cllr Carol Schleip's prejudicial comments against an ex serviceman applying for a job at Hadleigh council, would not be.

He said: "I was surprised at having made a full apology to all councillors that councillor Minns did not find this apology acceptable because I do not name him personally, even though at the time he thanked me for it.

"Himself and the town clerk have decided to make a complaint to the monitoring officer to push for a personal apology.

"Considering he used his casting vote to stop an investigation into Carol Schliep's comments against an armed forces veteran, I'm surprised he has had done this.

"Does he consider this a good use of public money? Especially after he considered an investigation into prejudice a waste of public money.

"My outburst was due to the concerns over the behaviour at a confidential staff sub committee, it is clear he has looked to protect fellow Hadleigh Together members."

The hearing, which involved a panel of three councillors, four officers, Cllr Knock and a 'friend', lasted 50 minutes and was paid for by Babergh taxpayers.

Cllr Knock said he will apologise to Cllr Minns 'for a second time' when he makes a statement to full council at its next meeting on Thursday, September 16.

Cllr Minns has told Nub News he will comment once he has seen the formal notice.

Following the previous code of conduct, which was upheld, Cllr Knock was ordered to:

Make a public apology to the chair at the next full council meeting for his conduct during the meeting and comments to the chair.

To apologise for the email that was sent to all councillors after the meeting.

To undertake training on the council's procedure rules specifically looking at the rules of debate and how to raise points during the meeting.

That councillor Knock is reminded to exercise caution when sending out emails to staff and councillors.

Councillor Knock has since undertaken all of these sanctions apart from a public apology to the chair of the meeting.

It was accepted Cllr Knock had complied with all the sanctions except to make an apology directly to the chair.

• The Joint Standards Board was established with Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk County to determine the appropriate action on matters referred to the Board by the Monitoring Officer in relation to the Suffolk Local Code of Conduct.

Joint Standards Sub Committee hearings support the Council's obligation to uphold standards of conduct in accordance with statutory requirements as set out in the Localism Act 2011.