The former Sheriff of Nottingham has been cleared of misusing his position to obtain gig tickets, discounted car repairs, and hospitality.
Earlier this year an investigation was opened into Cllr Zafran Khan’s conduct while he held the position of Sheriff.
He was elected to represent the Wollaton West ward in 2019, and held the civic role until May this year.
A “misuse of position” complaint was first received on September 18 last year, and the council decided it appropriate that an investigation take place.
An external investigation, conducted by legal firm Bevan Brittan LLP, found Cllr Khan had breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct eight times in respect of gifts and hospitality, use of position and disrepute.
The key findings of the report included breaches of the code through the use of his council email, which was signed off with his Sheriff signature, to get discounted to repairs to his Land Rover; free events tickets at the Motorpoint Arena in its hospitality suites, including to see Tate McRae and Paw Patrol; and a failure to declare hospitality at The Ivy restaurant and Nottingham Racecourse.
However, at a Standards and Governance hearing on Thursday (November 5), a majority of councillors on the panel exonerated Cllr Khan of all but one technical breach in relation to failure to declare hospitality at the Motorpoint Arena within the required 28 days.
The Code of Conduct states councillors must register with the monitoring officer any gifts or hospitality with an estimated value of at least £25 within 28 days of its receipt.
Cllr Khan has consistently maintained he had done nothing wrong, and his legal representative Mannat Malhi, of Matrix Chambers, described the external investigation report as “wholly inadequate”.
Ms Malhi said Cllr Khan has “always taken the obligations seriously”, and noted delays in the process and leaks to the press caused significant ongoing emotional distress and embarrassment.
The report was originally published at a meeting of the cross-party Standards and Governance Committee on Thursday (October 15), but an issue was raised during the meeting regarding potential pre-determination by one of the members.
As a result members of the committee, from different political groups, decided they felt it was inappropriate to continue “because of the risk of undermining the process”.
The hearing was rescheduled and took place on Thursday.
Cllr Graham Chapman (Lab), chair of the committee, delivered the outcome.
He said: “The committee has made the following findings on a majority basis, a substantial majority basis.
“One; councillor Khan attended the opening of The Ivy in Nottingham in his capacity of Sheriff of Nottingham. The Code applies to the role of Sheriff, the practice in this council and other councils that when you hold that [position] there is no requirement to register hospitality because the role of civic is solely to attend events and receive events. Therefore there is no breach in this case.
“Two; councillor Khan attended the racecourse as director of Nottingham city Racecourse, therefore the Code does not apply to directors.
“Three; councillor Khan attended the Motorpoint Arena on three occasions as councillor. He declared his hospitality albeit not in the required 28 days. There is nothing improper about his attendance and had he declared the events in the time there would have unlikely to have been any objection.
“Therefore there was a breach in failure to declare within the limited time.
“Four; councillor Khan used his council email address to write to Jaguar Land Rover about repairs to his car. There is no evidence this was a deliberate attempt to use his position as councillor, and this is supported by the independent advisor.
“He was ill advised to use this council email address for what was in fact personal business. The use of an email address in itself is however not sufficient. There is clear case law to substantiate this conclusion. The Code only applies if the use of email is about council business or his role as councillor. There is evidence this was a personal matter. Therefore the Code does not apply.”
Cllr Kirsty L Jones, of the Nottingham People’s Alliance (NPA) said she did not reach the same conclusion as the other councillors.
Panel members included chair Cllr Chapman, Cllr Hayley Spain (Lab), Cllr Corall Jenkins (Lab), Cllr Kevin Clarke (Nottingham Independents), Cllr Eunice Regan (Lab), Cllr L Jones (NPA) and Nigel Cullen as independent advisor.
During the hearing, councillors heard from the investigating officer, Vivienne Sedgley of Bevan Brittan, for the first hour.
Ms Sedgley said her conclusions in the report had been reached “on balance of probabilities, so in other words what we thought was most likely to have been the case.”
She added the investigation had been significantly documentary-based, including emails as well as interviews with witnesses, inclusive of Cllr Khan.
Then, for around three hours, Cllr Khan’s legal representative, Ms Malhi, gave evidence and asked Cllr Khan questions; as did councillors on the hearing panel.
Cllr David Mellen (Lab), Cllr Patience Ifediora (Lab), and former councillor, Mayor and Sheriff Brian Grocock also gave character references during the meeting.
In 2009, Mr Grocock was investigated while he was Sheriff over a claim he provided inaccurate information to help a couple secure a council house.
During the hearing Cllr Khan said “no support was given” before and after he became Sheriff in relation to his role and responsibilities.
It was argued that during his first four months as Sheriff, the dedicated civic support officer post was vacant, “causing administrative oversight and missed guidance”.
“This has been devastating and I can’t even put it into words,” Cllr Khan said, before breaking down into tears during the hearing.
A portion of his initial defence stated he was not aware of his Code of Conduct until around September last year, but having reflected further “expressed that, even if he had been aware, he had not fully understood it”.
Following the ruling, Ms Malhi said Cllr Khan received “no opportunity to shadow or no clear guidance and support on the obligations to register hospitality”.
She added he had at all times tried to act transparently and cooperate with the investigation.
Speaking after the ruling, Cllr Khan said: “Obviously there was nothing deliberate about me not declaring those events. Obviously if it has brought any distress I apologise, but there was no harm intended.”
Independent member Mr Cullen said: “Having considered the complaint, the investigation report, the evidence presented, and the representations made, my role was not to determine the matter but to provide an independent view.
“In my view there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct in relation to the Motorpoint Arena attendance only.”
No sanctions were put in place, but a number of recommendations and actions will be put in place.
These include that the monitoring officer arranges appropriate training for Cllr Khan, while there will be a requirement on the council to arrange mandatory Code of Conduct training for all councillors, including on gifts and hospitality.
A note will be issued to all councillors providing guidance on estimating the value of gifts, and the importance of distinguishing between attending events as a board member or director of a council-run company, as opposed to a councillor.
Best practice guidance will be further issued regarding the use of email addresses.
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
