Cllr Elaine Holmes and former Mayor of Melton is to be disciplined after being found guilty of a breach of conduct towards a member of council staff.

A COUNCILLOR and former Mayor of Melton is to be disciplined after being found guilty of a breach of conduct towards a member of council staff.


Elaine Holmes has been ordered to write a letter of apology and undergo re-training in councillor-officer relationships by September 30 or face further public censure.
The council’s standards committee found she had breached the authority’s code of conduct by failing to treat others with respect.

The three-member panel added that she had brought her office and the authority into disrepute and had bullied the member of staff.

The hearing came about after the staff member alleged Coun Holmes – then in her second term as Mayor – gave her a ‘dressing down’ for not inviting her to a dinner hosted by the Action for Market Towns Convention being held in Melton in October 2009.

The standards committee found that Mrs Holmes’ treatment of the staff member, in the reception area of Phoenix House in front of other staff, was ‘disrespectful and unacceptable’ and that ‘the repetitive nature of the her questioning amounted to bullying’.

The cost to Melton Council of investigating and preparing its case against Mrs Holmes was more than £20,000.

The case cost £4,500 to investigate, internal legal costs and members’ training was put at £5,000 and the council had to pay £2,400 for a London solicitor to represent it. Officer time equated to a further £8,400.
A council spokeswoman said the council had to hire outside legal help as its own part-time legal representative was involved in advising the standards committee.

She said the council had been ready to hear the case since October 2010, although Mrs Holmes said the only date set was in November last year when she was ill.

The spokeswoman added: “We have a budget for legal fees and corporate and democratic matters, which is where the costs have been allocated.”

http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/news/local/ex-mayor-disciplined-in-misconduct-case-1-3967577

http://www.melton.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/councillors/councillor_elaine_holmes.aspx