Gwynedd councillor's German reply to Welsh email broke rules

Councillor Louise Hughes says she regretted her German response calling it "puerile and unnecessary"

A councillor who replied to Welsh language emails in German breached the code of conduct, an ombudsman found.

Louise Hughes sent the messages to Howard Huws, a member of a language campaign group, in December 2021 and February 2022.

He called the decision to reply in German "offensive" and filed an official complaint.

Councillor Louise Hughes has been suspended for one month for breaching the council's code of conduct.

When asked if she understood the Committee's decision she said: "Yes I understand. I'm not happy about it, I'd just like to say this whole process has been harrowing. I have received no support from the council at all."

A probe found it was "disrespectful to Mr Huws, his Welsh cultural identity and also the Welsh language itself".

The row goes back to two emails sent in Welsh to all councillors, to which Mr Huws received two replies entirely in German.

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He called her response "sarcastic and offensive behaviour".

Katrin Shaw - representing the ombudsman - agreed, finding three breaches of the code of conduct related to equality, respect and to not bring the council into disrepute.

Gwynedd council is now deciding if Ms Hughes will be sanctioned for code of conduct breaches

Ms Hughes, who represents the Llangelynnin ward, described her actions as "light hearted".

She said they were an attempt to "illustrate the difficulty caused when I received an email which I could not fully understand".

"In no way did I mean to be offensive. I often use humour to defuse potentially awkward situations."

She added that she genuinely regretted "sending what was a puerile and unnecessary response to Mr Huws".

Mr Huws is a member Cylch yr Iaith, a group promoting the Welsh language.

He said the email was "an official business matter and I expected the person to respond and behave as is appropriate for someone who is a member of a public body".