A COUNCIL committee has dismissed a complaint about a York councillor and General Election candidate.

The Press reported previously how Osbaldwick resident Mark Warters had lodged a complaint with City of York Council about Coun Madeleine Kirk, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats in the York Outer seat.

Mr Warters alleged she had broken the authority’s code of conduct over a £5,000 donation she received from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.

His complaint included the allegation that she failed to declare the donation in the council members’ register, even though some of the money had been applied towards political work in her Strensall ward.

Coun Kirk dismissed the allegations, saying she was confident the complaint was ill-founded and would be recognised as such by the council’s Standards Board.

Now it has emerged that the standards committee’s assessment sub-committee has resolved to take no further action over the complaint.

The minutes of the meeting say it had been alleged there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct through a failure to declare donations made to a political group, a failure to enter such donations in the Register of Members’ Interests and the use of political contacts to influence council decisions in respect of a particular development, in return for political donations.

It said the sub-committee was satisfied that the member did not have a registerable interest arising from the donation and that the remaining allegations, even if proven, would not amount to a breach of the code.

Coun Kirk said: “As I anticipated, Mr Warters’ allegations were dismissed as there was no substance to any of them.”

She declined Mr Warters’ request to release a copy of a letter explaining the committee’s decision in more detail.

Mr Warters said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the decision, and was also disappointed that Coun Kirk was declining to release the decision letter.