Former Member of the Senedd Neil McEvoy has been blamed for a huge rise in complaints against MSs in the last year.
The number of complaints against Senedd Members in the past year rose from 106 to 216, an increase of 104% according to the annual report of the Senedd Commissioner for Standards which published on Monday.
Standards chief Douglas Bain said the significant increase in the number of complaints received was very largely due to the conduct of Neil McEvoy, who was elected as a Plaid MS in 2016 before being expelled from the party and losing his seat in May's election.
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Mr Bain said that Mr McEvoy had himself made six complaints against fellow Members of the Senedd, none of them admissible, and was the subject of 97 complaints about his own conduct.
Senedd Commissioner for Standards, Douglas Bain said: “All the figures for 2020-21 are skewed by the conduct of a single former Member, Neil McEvoy. He made six complaints and was the subject of 97 complaints, of which 91 were admissible, and five reports to the Committee.
“When his conduct is discounted there has been no significant change in the level of complaints activity during the year.
“Apart from the complaints against Mr McEvoy of failure to declare a relevant interest, by far the largest number of complaints was again about comments made by Members on social media."
The report found that the overall conduct of Members continues to be of a high standard and admissible complaints were received against only eight of the 60 Members.
It added that 89 (41%) complaints were found to be inadmissible for various reasons, such as how Members expressed an opinion, lack of sufficient evidence or an alleged poor service by a Member.
Mr Bain said: “The record high number of complaints again demonstrates close scrutiny by the public of the conduct of Members.
“When the public believe that a Member has fallen short of the required high standard of conduct it is right that a complaint is made and investigated by the independent Standards Commissioner.
“During the year 216 new complaints were received and this is by far the highest number since the office of Commissioner was established in 2009.
“That said, I am satisfied that almost all Members continue to observe the high standard of conduct rightly expected of them.’’
Whilst the level of inadmissible complaints continued at a high level the Code of Conduct that came into effect at the commencement of the Sixth Senedd and the proposed new procedural rules and guidance will provide an opportunity to reduce this wasteful activity.
Mr Bain concluded: “With the new Code of Conduct now in place I predict a significant reduction in the number of complaints in 2021-22. In the first quarter we have seen a significant fall in the number of complaints, with only seven received.”
The report gives other complaint related statistics for the last five years.
Mr McEvoy said: "The current Standards Commissioner allowed staff to stay in place who had discussed destroying evidence and making sure an appeal was dismissed, before it was even made.
"How can even talk about standards and ethics? It is difficult to take those people seriously. Don't forget either the former Standards Commissioner resigned, after I published some details of my recordings.
"The current Chair of the Senedd Chair of Standards and Ethics Committee was found guilty of using public resource for party political purposes, as was the Plaid Cymru Group.
"There was no punishment and it was not even reported, in contrast to today. The Senedd is a cosy club. Those who question process and look into corruption are kept busy and ultimately found guilty through the sham that is Standards and Ethics.
"Wales deserves so much better. Propel is growing and is determined to bring about a democratic revolution. We need nothing less."
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