Wisbech councillor Simon King is set to face conduct hearing on mileage claims following a private investigation into alleged irregularities

An independent investigation has concluded Wisbech Councillor Simon King did breach Fenland Council’s code of conduct with his inflated mileage claims.

On Wednesday (31) he will face a conduct hearing at Fenland Hall with fellow councillors determining whether or not the conclusions of law firm Wilkin Chapman are correct and what action Coun King should face.

Lincolnshire-based Wilkin Chapman were brought in to carry out an independent review of the evidence against Coun King following a preliminary conduct hearing earlier this year.

They have now published a lengthy report outlining their findings and concluding “there has been a breach of the code of conduct of the authority by Coun King.”

He has consistently and vehemently denied any wrongdoing over his mileage claims since he was reported by Fenland’s monitoring officer Carol Pilson last November and has previously described the process as “extremely hurtful”.

Coun King has also questioned the way the scheme’s rules have been interpreted and argued there is nothing to state categorically a councillor must take the most direct route, nor that all journeys claimed for must begin from home

But while the Wilkin Chapman report accepted the claims Coun King made were associated with his role as councillor, it also found he had produced mileage claims that were significantly different to the actual mileage between his home on North Brink and council offices where he attended meetings.

The report also said he made claims not covered by the council’s members’ allowance scheme.

The original complaint stems from Mrs Pilson noticing Coun King had made a “significant amount of miclaims” and calculated Coun King had been overpaid by £1,511.10 and with a further £736.65 of claims rejected.

He has since paid back the £1,511.10 stating the payment was made without accepting any liability.

If Wednesday’s hearing concludes Coun King did breach the code of conduct members will have to decide whether to impose sanctions but the powers of punishment are limited and include a formal letter of reprimand.