Conduct hearing held largely in private determines Mohammad Islam breached the code on three counts after using his office to support visa applications for friends and family, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Enfield Civic Centre and (inset) Mohammad Islam

A former Enfield mayor breached the councillor code of conduct by “bringing his office into disrepute”, a committee has ruled.

Ex-mayor Mohammad Islam – who was suspended by the Labour Party in June and continues to sit as an independent councillor for Ponders End – breached the members code on three counts after he used his position as mayor to support visa applications for his friends and family, against the advice of council officers.

This was the ruling made by the council’s conduct committee yesterday (Tuesday 12th) following a two-hour hearing that was largely held in private to protect the identities of people involved.

Separately, the Home Office has confirmed Cllr Islam is being investigated for suspected immigration offences.

Terry Osborne, Enfield Council’s director of law and governance, told Tuesday’s committee Cllr Islam would be sanctioned by having to make a written apology published online, by undertaking further training on the code of conduct, and by not wearing his “post mayoral” badge. He was also ordered not to use his position as a councillor to support visa applications in future.

In Enfield the mayor is a civic role with no executive powers.

The main issue discussed at the hearing was the supporting documents sent by Cllr Islam as part of the visa applications submitted by his friends and family.

The council had been made aware of the documents by the Home Office, which first made contact with the civic centre back in May 2024, before Cllr Islam was appointed as mayor later that month.

The Home Office sought to confirm the documents were legitimate and whether the council had given approval, which it had not.

Following further correspondence with the Home Office during Cllr Islam’s mayoral term, an external investigation was carried out at the request of the monitoring officer in February this year.

After the findings of the investigation were received, council leader Ergin Erbil submitted a complaint against Cllr Islam in July, stating his concerns that the ex-mayor’s actions “may have unintentionally brought his office into disrepute”.

Speaking at the end of Tuesday’s hearing, Osborne read out the codes the committee had determined were breached.

She said: “The position of this committee is that Cllr Islam breached the member code of conduct. In particular he breached paragraph 7.1 (v), ‘you should not use or attempt to use your position as a member improperly to confer on or secure for yourself or any other person an advantage or disadvantage’; paragraph 7.1 (ix), ‘you should not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute’; [and] paragraph 7.2, ‘you shall observe the following rules when using the resources of the authority, or authorising the use of those resources by others, mainly act in accordance with the authority’s reasonable requirements’.”

There had been some disagreement at the start of the meeting, however, when Osborne asked if the evidence could be discussed in private to protect people’s identities. Cllr Islam said it was also his preference for the meeting to be held in private.

But Conservative committee members Chris Dey and Joanne Laban voted for the discussion to be public. Cllr Dey said: “My personal view is it should be in public, we should be transparent and open in our dealings and I think that’s what the public would expect.

“This has caught national and local headlines and the appearance of us as a conduct committee to have a meeting behind closed doors doesn’t engender trust and support from the people who voted for us.”

But Labour committee member Rick Jewell said the committee had to be “mindful” of protecting people, and Labour chair Bektas Ozer agreed. With two for and two against, the chair had the deciding vote and determined the meeting should be held in private.

This decision had the effect of barring the press and public from hearing Cllr Islam’s defence against the allegations. At no point has he commented publicly on the investigation into his conduct.

Earlier today (Wednesday 13th) the council issued a statement in reaction to the ruling, which said: “Enfield Council supports the councillor conduct committee’s decision to take action against Cllr Islam for breaking the member code of conduct.

“This follows an investigation into a complaint from council leader, Ergin Erbil, that Cllr Islam, while serving as mayor, wrote letters to outside organisations to support visa applications, even though officers advised him not to.

“According to council rules, it’s the councillor conduct committee that reviews complaints about councillors and decides what action to take, if any.

“The committee looked into the complaint and decided that Cllr Islam broke the rules and may have damaged the council’s reputation.”

The spokesperson concluded the council could not “dismiss or suspend councillors” and highlighted the committee had determined there was “no suggestion of financial wrongdoing”.

It was also claimed by the council in its statement that Cllr Erbil was not informed about the issues around Cllr Islam until Monday, 9th June, nearly four months after the external investigation began.

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