UKIP's Gareth Bennett: 'Waste of time investigating me'

Gareth Bennett became a UKIP AM for the South Wales Central region at the 2016 election

UKIP's new assembly group leader Gareth Bennett has claimed he is being investigated by the standards commissioner over "many issues".

Sir Roderick Evans is understood to be examining the spending of more than £9,000 of public money on an office in Pontypridd that never opened.

"If he wants to waste his time investigating me he can carry on," Mr Bennett told BBC Wales.

A spokesman for the assembly declined to comment.

• Who is Gareth Bennett?

• Outspoken AM voted UKIP assembly leader

• Probe on UKIP AM's unopened office spend

On Friday, the South Wales Central AM was declared winner of a three-way battle for the leadership of UKIP's five-strong Senedd group, defeating the previous two leaders Caroline Jones and Neil Hamilton in a membership ballot.

BBC Wales reported in July that spending on a failed project to open a constituency office for Mr Bennett was the subject of a probe by Sir Roderick.

It was triggered after the matter was referred to the watchdog by the chief executive of the assembly, Manon Antoniazzi.

"He's been taking a very long time investigating that," said Mr Bennett, who is the UKIP member of the assembly's standards of conduct committee.

Gareth Bennett had wanted to open a constituency office in this building in Pontypridd

He told BBC Wales he had done "absolutely" nothing wrong over the constituency office.

"The standards watchdog is investigating me over many issues, over a long period of time.

"I've probably seen the standards watchdog more times than any other assembly member, possibly bar one exception.

"If he wants to waste his time investigating me he can carry on investigating me.

"He's not going to get anywhere with it, and he will end up wasting more public time and money, than the amount of time and money I've supposedly wasted in doing the things he's investigating me for."

Asked to confirm whether Mr Bennett was being investigated for a range of issues, a spokesman for the Welsh Assembly declined to comment.

The standards commissioner is an independent person who investigates and reports on complaints about the conduct of assembly members, and may recommend a course of action for the four-member cross-party standards of conduct committee to consider.

While Mr Bennett is the UKIP member of the committee, his party colleague Michelle Brown would take his place in the event of a complaint against Mr Bennett being considered.

Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd called on Mr Bennett to resign from the committee, saying his "public mocking" of the role of the commissioner made his position "untenable".

"He should stand down and be replaced by someone who will treat the role of upholding standards in public life with the seriousness and respect that it requires," he added.

Another Plaid Cymru AM - Bethan Sayed - said the new UKIP group leader should also stand down from the communities, equality and local government committee in view of his comments on Muslim women's attire.