Mayor is cleared of wrongdoing in tweet probe
WEST Midlands mayor Andy Street has been cleared of any wrongdoing over tweets sent from his account encouraging people to take part in a key public consultation.
An investigation into the controversial tweets found they did not break the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) code of conduct. The probe centred around a tweet sent from Mr Street’s account about the public consultation over the transfer of powers from the office of the police and crime commissioner to the mayor.
In the tweet fellow Conservative Party members were encouraged to “do anything you can do to get us three, four, five or more responses”.
It resulted in one Tory councillor, Bob Grinsell, saying he had responded “3 times and from 3 different email addresses”.
The mayor denied any knowledge of the tweet, claiming it was sent out by an aide who had access to his social media account.
But the mayor referred himself to the WMCA’s Head of Governance, Tim Martin, who launched an external investigation into whether there was any wrongdoing by the mayor.
The investigation has now concluded the mayor was innocent of any wrongdoing, with the solicitor investigating the case stating: “I have considered the facts of this matter against all headings in the WMCA Code of Conduct, including the principles set out in the code.
“There is no case here in my view in relation to the Disclosable Pecuniary Interests Regulations, or in relation to other interests of the mayor.
“In terms of the principles in the code, in my view the way in which the mayor has acted since this came to light is in fact supportive of those principles, particularly the principles of accountability, honesty and openness.
“It is entirely reasonable that this investigation was asked for by the mayor and I appreciate the importance he has placed upon it.
“However, given his own role and the way in which he has described how the tweet and message came to light, I am confident that this was not at his instruction or indeed could have been reasonably said to been following up on any suggestion of any intention of his. I do not believe that he has been guilty of any offence under the WMCA Code of Conduct and accordingly I make a finding that there has been no breach by him of the mode.”