A COUNCILLOR has been called back in front of the standards committee after he failed to apologise to complainants.

After being found guilty of breaching the council’s code of conduct on six occasions last month, Cllr Robert Brierley, ward member for Hindley Green, was handed a list of sanctions.

One of these included making written apologies to all those who had complained about his behaviour by December 5, which Cllr Brierley has failed to do.

As a result, the standards panel met yesterday, Thursday, and imposed further sanctions, including a recommendation to council that he be removed from the Confident Places Scrutiny committee in Cllr Brierley’s absence.

The leader of Wigan Council, Lord Peter Smith, along with opposition group leaders Cllr James Grundy and Cllr Gary Wilkes, wrote to Eric Pickles last month urging the government to introduce a public right of recall if they’re unhappy with a councillor’s behaviour.

Lord Smith said: “The electorate are losing faith in democracy. They cannot understand why we do not have the power to ensure councillors, like Cllr Brierley, are accountable for their behaviour and neither do we.

“The majority of our councillors are respectable, hardworking individuals who genuinely want to help improve their local communities, but a handful continue to make a mockery of democracy.

“At a time when we’re making cuts, it is absolutely ludicrous that we’re forking out nearly £100,000 to deal with these complaints. These councillors show no remorse for their actions.”

But Cllr Brierley disputes the legality of the original hearings and says he has tried to send letters of apology.

“I informed (a council officer) that I'd not yet received the information of the address's of those complainants who I need to send my letters to, also I was not asked to face the panel,” he said.

“This council under the control of labour allows officer to break the rules hoping residents will not vote for them at election time “If we ever get justice the committee panel would be equal not the kangaroo court of eight Labour councillors and one opposition.”