May 17, 2001 14:19: A COUNCILLOR who breached national codes of good conduct has been selected as a member of the standards committee which ruled against him.

Three Rivers District Council member Tony Barton was nominated to sit on the council's standards committee at the council's annual meeting on Tuesday. He will be the Conservative group's representative on the body.

The committee is in place to investigate allegations of wrong-doing by elected members. It is made up of four independent people and three councillors, one from each party Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour.

The committee criticised Mr Barton in October for failing to keep his public and private roles separate. He is the only councillor to be called before the body.

He was found to have broken the National Code of Local Government Conduct on two counts.

The breach followed his offer to buy land he had previously dealt with in relation to council planning issues.

Mr Barton had served on the planning committee and the land was in Sarratt, where he is ward councillor.

The standards body report said: "He acted in such a way as to cause the complainant to question his actions and the reasons for them, and the motives of the council."

The report also stated: "It is not enough to avoid actual impropriety. You should at all times avoid any occasion for suspicion and appearance of improper conduct."

However, the standards committee concluded there had been no actual impropriety.

The report said Mr Barton had not used confidential information for his own personal advantage, had made no personal gain from his actions and acknowledged a lack of judgement in the case.

Council leader Mrs Ann Shaw said Mr Barton's nomination on to the standards committee was an error of judgement and urged the Conservatives to reconsider.

She said: "The standards committee was established to build and maintain the confidence in the community in the way the council members operate."

Conservative group leader Amrit Mediratta, who sat on the standards committee when it investigated the issue, rejected the idea Mr Barton's past should rule him out.

He said: "We did not consider there was any conflict because he was completely cleared by the standards committee.

"If the committee had found he had done something wrong, I would never have considered him."

He stressed the role of the watchdog was now different, and added: "Councillor Barton will not be sitting in judgement of anyone. That will be for a National Standards Committee. He will advise councillors and his experience will assist him."

Mr Barton defended his appointment and said the experience made him all the more suitable. He said: "I was exonerated and the complainant never followed it up."

He said it was an experience he would use positively when sitting on the committee.