UKIP Councillors call for investigation and suspension of Rutland Councils, Chief Executive Helen Briggs who lied in court
(My feeling is she should be sacked and charged)
Following on from yesterday’s Blog reference the disruption to Council Meetings by a Mr Brookes staging a peaceful sit-in, we would now wish to make people aware that we have tried to bring this matter to a head and see it resolved with immediate effect. To that end we wrote to the Chairman of the Council, Mrs Charlotte Vernon, to ask that Mrs Vernon, in her capacity as Chairman of the Council took charge of the matter, as clearly the Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Begy, was just burying his head in the sand and merely ignoring the issue hoping it would somehow go away, certainly it appears Councillor Begy is afraid to show any form of real Leadership to front-up and deal with the matter.
We, therefore, sent an email to the Chairman, which, given that the Chairman has not even replied causes even greater concern, we now publish below the letter sent:
To: CVernon
Cc: 'Nick (4Rutland)'; 'Richard (4Rutland)'
Subject: FW: Disruption of Council
Dear Councillor Vernon,
We write on behalf of the Rutland Group of the United Kingdom Independence Party (RGUKIP) to you in your capacity as Chairman, which we are sure you will recognise involves your presiding over meetings of the Full Council to ensure that its business is carried out fairly and efficiently, to be the 'conscience' of the council and that you must ensure that you distance yourself from the political arena during your term of office.
We would now draw your attention to the fact that; yet again, last night at the Annual Full Council Meeting of 12th May 2014 the meeting descended into chaos and farce with you once again adjourning the Meeting. This came about as a consequence of a Mr Brookes once more staging a peaceful protest in the Public Gallery.
This is the second Full Council Meeting that has been disrupted by such a protest by Mr Brookes staging what he states is a peaceful protest. The last time this happened was again total farce, with you having to adjourn the Meeting to determine the best course of action when Mr Brookes refused to leave the room when Council determined to discuss an exempt item, resulting in all Members and Officers having to vacate the room and continue the debate in the foyer.
I have also now attended two Scrutiny Meetings with Mr Brookes staging his peaceful protest, holding up a sign stating “The Chief Executive is a liar” and with Mr Brookes calling out before the meeting began to other members of the public present in the public gallery that; “the Chief Executive lied about me in Court”. I am sure you will appreciate that this is a very serious accusation indeed. This is coupled with the fact that the previous Rutland Constabulary Officer, Inspector Mistry, stated in the same Court Hearing information reference the suspension of Mr Aman Mehra and subsequent activity thereafter, which clearly had not been made known to the Coroner for the subsequent Inquest and, it would appear, has never been made known by the Chief Executive, if that is the case that would suggest the Chief Executive has withheld important information which might have led to the perverting of the course of justice..
Quite clearly Mr Brookes feels aggrieved, which is why he is staging this type of protest. In fairness to Mr Brookes he had to endure a full trial for a charge brought against him by the Chief Executive and two others. The Judge, who dismissed the charge, in his summing up was most condemning of the Chief Executive and of the charge ever being brought to Court. I am told the Judge was appalled that over £200,000 should have been spent on bringing this case, much of that cost has to rest at the feet of the Chief Executive and one wonders how much it also cost Rutland Council both financially and in Officer time. It is extraordinary that Rutland Council did not investigate the matter given the Judge’s summing up, to ascertain if any action should be taken and if there was a need for any recovery of costs to Rutland Council.
We would have expected the Leader to have shown genuine Leadership in this matter and nip it in the bud from the outset. That is easily done by immediately speaking with Mr Brookes to ascertain the level of his complaint and accusations made against the Chief Executive. Given the very serious nature of these accusations, the matter should immediately be referred to the Police for investigation, lying in Court is one of the most serious offences there is. The Police should then carry out a proper inquiry and report back, in that time it would be appropriate that the Chief Executive was suspended until the outcome of such an inquiry, which should be carried out as quickly as possible. If the Police determine there is absolutely no truth in what Mr Brookes is suggesting then Mr Brookes should be instructed by the Police and by the Chief Executive that any further such accusations and protests by him will be considered defamatory.
What we cannot understand is that Councillor Begy, as Leader of this Council, is prepared to merely sit there looking sheepish and embarrassed when Mr Brookes has been present making these accusations. The very fact that the Leader of the Council and for that matter, the Chief Executive, do not take any action whatsoever to immediately draw this to a head is an indictment in itself.
As Chairman we feel it is now incumbent upon you to draw this farce to an end, which in our opinion should be done as follows:
Call a Special Council Meeting with immediate effect to discuss this matter, with the proposal that Rutland Council call for the Police to investigate these allegations with immediate effect, during which time the Chief Executive is suspended until it has been clearly determined by the Police if there is any truth in such allegations and if there is need for any form of further action.
This email will be treated as Confidential pending a reply from yourself. Should no reply be forthcoming within 48 hours we will be obliged to Blog this email to you since we believe it is imperative the public are fully aware of the current problem in running this Council and the current disruption that exists to fulfilling the proper business of the Council. This situation is intolerable, it is now incumbent upon you, as Chairman, to have this matter immediately resolved. Merely hoping this will go away is not addressing the problem, in fact it suggests there is in fact more than a problem that Rutland Council does not want to face up to.
Yours sincerely,
On Behalf of RGUKIP
Councillor R.Gale
Councillor D.Richardson
Councillor N.Wainwright
(My feeling is she should be sacked and charged)
Following on from yesterday’s Blog reference the disruption to Council Meetings by a Mr Brookes staging a peaceful sit-in, we would now wish to make people aware that we have tried to bring this matter to a head and see it resolved with immediate effect. To that end we wrote to the Chairman of the Council, Mrs Charlotte Vernon, to ask that Mrs Vernon, in her capacity as Chairman of the Council took charge of the matter, as clearly the Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Begy, was just burying his head in the sand and merely ignoring the issue hoping it would somehow go away, certainly it appears Councillor Begy is afraid to show any form of real Leadership to front-up and deal with the matter.
We, therefore, sent an email to the Chairman, which, given that the Chairman has not even replied causes even greater concern, we now publish below the letter sent:
To: CVernon
Cc: 'Nick (4Rutland)'; 'Richard (4Rutland)'
Subject: FW: Disruption of Council
Dear Councillor Vernon,
We write on behalf of the Rutland Group of the United Kingdom Independence Party (RGUKIP) to you in your capacity as Chairman, which we are sure you will recognise involves your presiding over meetings of the Full Council to ensure that its business is carried out fairly and efficiently, to be the 'conscience' of the council and that you must ensure that you distance yourself from the political arena during your term of office.
We would now draw your attention to the fact that; yet again, last night at the Annual Full Council Meeting of 12th May 2014 the meeting descended into chaos and farce with you once again adjourning the Meeting. This came about as a consequence of a Mr Brookes once more staging a peaceful protest in the Public Gallery.
This is the second Full Council Meeting that has been disrupted by such a protest by Mr Brookes staging what he states is a peaceful protest. The last time this happened was again total farce, with you having to adjourn the Meeting to determine the best course of action when Mr Brookes refused to leave the room when Council determined to discuss an exempt item, resulting in all Members and Officers having to vacate the room and continue the debate in the foyer.
I have also now attended two Scrutiny Meetings with Mr Brookes staging his peaceful protest, holding up a sign stating “The Chief Executive is a liar” and with Mr Brookes calling out before the meeting began to other members of the public present in the public gallery that; “the Chief Executive lied about me in Court”. I am sure you will appreciate that this is a very serious accusation indeed. This is coupled with the fact that the previous Rutland Constabulary Officer, Inspector Mistry, stated in the same Court Hearing information reference the suspension of Mr Aman Mehra and subsequent activity thereafter, which clearly had not been made known to the Coroner for the subsequent Inquest and, it would appear, has never been made known by the Chief Executive, if that is the case that would suggest the Chief Executive has withheld important information which might have led to the perverting of the course of justice..
Quite clearly Mr Brookes feels aggrieved, which is why he is staging this type of protest. In fairness to Mr Brookes he had to endure a full trial for a charge brought against him by the Chief Executive and two others. The Judge, who dismissed the charge, in his summing up was most condemning of the Chief Executive and of the charge ever being brought to Court. I am told the Judge was appalled that over £200,000 should have been spent on bringing this case, much of that cost has to rest at the feet of the Chief Executive and one wonders how much it also cost Rutland Council both financially and in Officer time. It is extraordinary that Rutland Council did not investigate the matter given the Judge’s summing up, to ascertain if any action should be taken and if there was a need for any recovery of costs to Rutland Council.
We would have expected the Leader to have shown genuine Leadership in this matter and nip it in the bud from the outset. That is easily done by immediately speaking with Mr Brookes to ascertain the level of his complaint and accusations made against the Chief Executive. Given the very serious nature of these accusations, the matter should immediately be referred to the Police for investigation, lying in Court is one of the most serious offences there is. The Police should then carry out a proper inquiry and report back, in that time it would be appropriate that the Chief Executive was suspended until the outcome of such an inquiry, which should be carried out as quickly as possible. If the Police determine there is absolutely no truth in what Mr Brookes is suggesting then Mr Brookes should be instructed by the Police and by the Chief Executive that any further such accusations and protests by him will be considered defamatory.
What we cannot understand is that Councillor Begy, as Leader of this Council, is prepared to merely sit there looking sheepish and embarrassed when Mr Brookes has been present making these accusations. The very fact that the Leader of the Council and for that matter, the Chief Executive, do not take any action whatsoever to immediately draw this to a head is an indictment in itself.
As Chairman we feel it is now incumbent upon you to draw this farce to an end, which in our opinion should be done as follows:
Call a Special Council Meeting with immediate effect to discuss this matter, with the proposal that Rutland Council call for the Police to investigate these allegations with immediate effect, during which time the Chief Executive is suspended until it has been clearly determined by the Police if there is any truth in such allegations and if there is need for any form of further action.
This email will be treated as Confidential pending a reply from yourself. Should no reply be forthcoming within 48 hours we will be obliged to Blog this email to you since we believe it is imperative the public are fully aware of the current problem in running this Council and the current disruption that exists to fulfilling the proper business of the Council. This situation is intolerable, it is now incumbent upon you, as Chairman, to have this matter immediately resolved. Merely hoping this will go away is not addressing the problem, in fact it suggests there is in fact more than a problem that Rutland Council does not want to face up to.
Yours sincerely,
On Behalf of RGUKIP
Councillor R.Gale
Councillor D.Richardson
Councillor N.Wainwright
