Ex-Sheriff of Nottingham abused position - report

The former Sheriff of Nottingham has been found to have abused his position to secure a discount of more than £20,000 on repairs to his Land Rover, claim gig tickets and receive free hospitality.

Nottingham City Council Labour councillor Zafran Khan was found by an external investigation to have breached the code of conduct.

Khan, who represents Wollaton West, is the brother of the leader Neghat Khan.

The report said he "denied any wrongdoing" and believed he "abided by the rules as he genuinely understood them to be".

Khan became a councillor in 2019 and held the civic sheriff role until May 2026.

The ceremonial role is to promote Nottingham as a destination, to welcome tourists to the city and encourage residents to take advantage of the city's activities.

The complaint about Khan was first received on 18 September last year, and the Standards and Governance Committee met on 15 October to discuss the case.

The cross-party committee's role is to determine whether there has been a breach of the Nottingham City Council Code of Conduct and, where a breach is found, to determine any sanctions.

The committee was later abandoned after Khan's lawyer raised concerns about a councillor on the panel and it is not clear when the committee will meet again.

The report, by legal firm Bevan Brittan, was published on Thursday andfound that Khan had breached the code of conduct in three areas - gifts and hospitality, use of position and disrepute.

It said he had contacted Jaguar Land Rover using his position as the sheriff regarding repairs to his vehicle.

Originally he was quoted £30,000, but after he contacted the company in his capacity as sheriff, it was agreed that the Land Rover would be repaired for £7,500, meaning Khan saved £22,500.

The investigation found he breached the code of conduct "by seeking to use his position as sheriff and or councillor to advantage himself in respect of repairs to his Land Rover".

Khan said he had "always driven high quality cars and the problem with his Land Rover was unexpected and dangerous, and the worry caused him to lose sleep and his appetite".

He said he had not intended to try and secure any benefit as a result of his position, but the report found there was "no apparent legitimate reason for using his councillor email address".

The report also found that Khan requested and accepted free tickets for events at the Motorpoint Arena to see Canadian singer Tate MacRae, Paw Patrol, the stage version of the children's cartoon, and the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team.

The investigation found two of these events in the hospitality suite marked breaches of the code and "amounted to a real or substantive personal gain".

Khan said attending the events helped him to understand the arena and it gave him a better understanding of how audiences enjoyed the arena.

He did not declare the visits within 28 days, but later declared them in 2025.

Khan also failed to declare his attendance at the opening of The Ivy restaurant in Nottingham.

The report said in September 2025, he emailed The Ivy to say "in my capacity as the Sheriff of Nottingham, I wondered if you would like me to attend your opening in Nottingham. My role is an ambassador of leisure, tourism and hospitality in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire".

Khan later informed the council that he had been invited to the opening.

Councillors are required to declare any gifts or hospitality with an estimated value of £25 or more, but Khan said "he did not think any of the events involved gifts or hospitality valued at £25 or more".

Khan also accepted complimentary visits to the Nottingham racecourse hospitality suite with guests but did not declare these visits.

The investigation found no breach in relation to Khan "trying to meet and host" the owner of Nottingham Forest and "support for persons involved in court proceedings".

Khan denied any wrongdoing andsaid his position was that he abided by the rules as he genuinely understood them to be.

He initially stated he was not aware of the code of conduct until around September 2025, but having reflected further expressed that - even if he had been aware of the code of conduct - he had not fully understood it.

Council leader Neghat Khan has been contacted for comment, but the BBC was told she was unable to take part in interviews while council procedures were ongoing.

After the committee meeting, a spokesperson for Nottingham City Council said: "An issue was raised in the meeting in respect of potential pre-determination by one of the members.

"Consequently, the other members of the committee, from different political groups, decided that they felt it was inappropriate to continue because of the risk of undermining the process.

"This meant there would not have been enough councillors present for the meeting to legally proceed. The hearing will be rescheduled."

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