CAUSEWAY Coast and Glens Borough Council has apologised to TUV leader Jim Allister for its handling of a complaint by the MLA over a controversial planning application.
The apology follows a report by the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) into how the local authority managed Mr Allister's complaint regarding the actions of council staff.
The North Antrim MLA had previously raised concerns over an application for a proposed hotel and spa complex near Portstewart.
Permission was first granted for the complex in June 2017 and later quashed at the High Court three months later. Consent was granted again in March 2019 but was quashed a second time at the High Court in September of that year.
The NIPSO report following Mr Allister's complaint was published earlier this month, and made findings of maladministration against the council.
The report found the council failed to give "full and careful consideration" to an independent investigation into the conduct of its chief executive David Jackson.
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The council had appointed independent consultancy firm Happy Raspberry to investigate the matters raised by Mr Allister, and upheld 15 of 18 complaints, but a vote by members of the council's Corporate Policy and Resources Committee in 2020 halted the complaints process.
The decision - made following claims that further action would breach Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights protecting the right to a fair trial - was later ratified at a full council meeting.
NIPSO found the council failed to seek legal advice on the content of its resolution in 2020, and failed to have a policy in place to deal with the potential of disciplinary action following a complaint against the chief executive.
The report also found the council failed to apologise to Mr Allister, and at a special meeting of the local authority in August, it agreed to accept the NIPSO recommendations.
As a result, the council wrote to Mr Allister last week to apologise in a letter signed by DUP mayor Steven Callaghan.
The letter confirmed the council would consider legal advice on the 2020 resolution, and would consider revisiting the course of action taken based on the advice received.
In his reply to the letter, Mr Allister wrote: "I suggest the NIPSO report expects more than consideration of these matters, but rather action thereon..."
In a statement on the correspondence, the TUV leader said: “I do indeed hope the council has learned necessary lessons and that, as promised, integrity of future processes will be restored."
