Ex-Authority Chair sanctioned after following employee back to hotel room
The former Chair of Avon Fire Authority has been found in breach of its code of conduct after two incidents of unwanted behaviour towards female members of staff at an awards dinner.
Last week, the Authority’s Governance and Oversight Committee published its decision notice on a complaint submitted by its former Chief Fire Officer about the conduct of Cllr Ben Nutland, who at the time of the complaint was Chair of the Authority.
The Chief Fire Officer’s complaint alleged that Cllr Nutland had, during and after an awards dinner in November 2024, behaved inappropriately towards two female members of staff. Having been notified of the complaint, Cllr Nutland tendered his immediate resignation as both Chair and a member of the Authority.
However, notwithstanding his resignation, the Authority’s Monitoring Officer determined that the public interest required that the complaint should be investigated and appointed Cornerstone Barristers’ Matt Lewin to carry out that investigation.
The investigation found:
- Cllr Nutland had called Employee 1 “stunning” and asked if she wanted to “go upstairs”.
- He had then followed Employee 1 back to her hotel room, entered her room, removed his jacket and shoes, got onto her bed and gave her an “expectant look”.
- Employee 1 felt very uncomfortable and asked him to leave twice. He did then leave her room without making any physical contact, but accidentally left his jacket behind.
- Separately, Cllr Nutland had persistently asked Employee 2 to dance with him despite her clearly indicating that she did not want to dance with him. She was also made to feel very uncomfortable and left the event shortly after, asking a male colleague to accompany her back to her car.
- In respect of both allegations, Cllr Nutland was acting in his official capacity as a member of the Authority. Despite the strong social element (including the supply of alcohol), this was fundamentally a work event to which Cllr Nutland had been invited in his capacity as Chair of the Authority.
A private hearing took place in June 2025 before a hearing panel of the Authority’s Governance and Oversight Committee.
In its decision notice now made public, the panel upheld all of the findings of the investigation and concluded that Cllr Nutland’s behaviour had breached the Authority’s Code of Conduct by failing to show both employees respect, by bullying Employee 1 and by bringing his role as Chair into disrepute.
As Cllr Nutland is no longer a member of the Authority but remains a member of one of its constituent authorities – South Gloucestershire Council – the panel’s sanctions were limited to reporting the outcome to South Gloucestershire Council and requesting that a private and confidential written apology be submitted to the Chief Fire Officer.
The case has been reported by the BBC and local media.
Matt Lewin is an experienced investigator of complaints against councillors. He is the editor of Cornerstone on Councillors’ Conduct and Standards in Public Life.
