A COUNCILLOR who visited the home of a fellow elected representative during lockdown for a meeting has been cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation.

Councillor Julie Bagwell, an independent and ex-Poole People member, took part in the November meeting of BCP Council from the home of councillor Judy Butt.

It prompted a formal complaint to be lodged against her by her former group colleague councillor L-J Evans who alleged her actions contravened national coronavirus guidelines.

But Cllr Bagwell said the complaint was politically-motivated and that she had done nothing wrong with many councillors already taking part in meetings from the same room in council buildings.

And the chairman of the council’s standards committee has ruled she had not brought the council into disrepute nor breached the code of conduct.

In making her complaint, Cllr Evans referred to clips of the remote meeting, held on November 24, at which the pair could be heard to be together.

She alleged this contravened lockdown guidelines in place at the time prohibiting household mixing.

But Cllr Bagwell denied any wrongdoing and hit out at the “politically-motivated” complaint from her former group colleague.

“It is no different from council officers taking part from council offices nor from other political groups doing the same from other council facilities as they have been doing,” she said.

“The complaint was clearly vexatious and made against me for political reasons which is something I do not get involved with. As far as I’m concerned we did nothing wrong.”

And the complaint has now been dismissed by the chairman of the council’s standards committee, councillor Steve Baron.

In a letter to Cllr Evans at the end of last month, which was not published by the council, he said “no breach of the code of conduct has occurred and that no further action should be taken” because it had not attracted public attention.

“I cannot see any evidence that the reputation of the council or the role of the councillors has been brought into disrepute,” he said. “I cannot draw the conclusion from the evidence available to me that Councillor Bagwell’s actions have brought either the role of councillor or the council into disrepute.”

He rejected Cllr Evans’ call for a public apology to be issued saying this would draw public attention and this “would be more likely to bring the council into disrepute”.