A COUNCILLOR has apologised for not withdrawing from a standards committee hearing after publishing a leaflet criticising its subject.

Cllr Jean Yates must also make a public apology to a full council meeting after she appeared before the standards committee herself on Friday.

The committee found that Cllr Yates' failure to declare an interest as the printer and published of a political newsletter criticising Cllr Carol Broad created a 'perception of bias'.

In a decisions read out by its chairman, Stephen Lamley, the committee said: "The conduct of Cllr Yates fell short of the standards expected of city councillors."

The case against Cllr Yates was presented by the council's monitoring officer, Roger Muckle, who concluded that Cllr Yates should have been more aware of her links with the Heysham Labour newsletter.

Material to this, he said, was correspondence from the council's chief executive instructing her to withdraw the leaflet and correct false accusations about MBI Cllrs Tricia Heath and Geoff Knight.

Cllr Yates did not speak during the brief hearing, in which she was represented by her Labour group colleague, Cllr Ian Barker.

He apologised on her behalf, but argued that, while the link between Cllr Yates' identification as publisher of the leaflet and the views it expressed would be notable to anyone involved in politics, it would not be clear to the general public.

In a statement issued by Cllr Barker on her behalf, Cllr Yates said: "I am happy to accept the findings of the Standards Committee hearing on Friday.

"I am very pleased that the Standards Committee has confirmed that there is no evidence that I acted in a biased way during the earlier hearing involving Councillor Broad."

"I accept the findings of the Standards Committee that I allowed there to be 'an appearance of bias'.

"I was the publisher of a Heysham Labour newsletter that criticised Councillor Broad although I did not write the article or edit the newsletter.

"With hindsight, that should have caused me to withdraw from the Standards Committee.

I wish to repeat my apology that I did not do so and will do so formally at a Council meeting."

Cllr Yates welcomed the fact that the hearing was held in public.

"She also denied an accusation by Cllr Broad that the Labour group had instructed her on how to vote.

That line of inquiry was not followed by the council's monitoring officer, Roger Muckle, in his report.

She added: " I am very pleased that the Standards Committee has confirmed that there is no evidence that I acted in a biased way during the earlier hearing involving Councillor Broad."