Oakham Town Council Clerk Vote of No Confidence
Dear Oakham Town Council,
It appears a Councillor can not propose a vote of no confidence in the Clerk.
I fully understand the Clerk has suffered bullying from a member who has
resigned from our council.
What I can not accept is we are constantly told we employ this Clerk.
A Clerk who costs the tax payers of Oakham so much much and is often
rude and incompetent.
Only last week I asked for a copy of the Good Councillor guidance
for the Chairman and Deputy to be attached to the agenda.
The Clerk refused to do this, when I suggested I photo copied it and
handed it out at next weeks meeting he reluctantly wrote it in his
diary. The agenda has been sent out and my request has been ignored.
The Clerk frequently ignores me when I raise issues relating to
Council business.
The Council has a contract of employment which is all very one sided
how is it possible that a person can receive a pay rise every year
without any conditions or exceptions attached to that award.
The Clerk ignored my request to refer payments to plantscape ltd
to full council and claims he forget my phone call. He knows
it is a lawful requirement for all payments over £5000 to be approved
by council. Next weeks agenda gives an example of that requirement
Councillors will be asked to approve a payment to made to the
Citizens Advice.
The Clerk also took cash payments in lieu of a pension for a number
of years, when the law recently changed the told the council he
wanted to opt into the most expensive pension scheme and we had no
choice because his contract only permitted the use of that scheme.
I personally think the money the Clerk took in lieu of a pension should
be paid back to the taxpayers of Oakham and put into the scheme.
How did Oakham Town Council end up with an employment contract
which allows the Clerk to opt out and receive money and then opt in
at later date without any financial repayment.
Cllr Alf Dewis handled this employment issue very poorly.
I understand the Clerk is now threatening the council will tribunal
action if we take action against him.
I find this very unacceptable, The Clerk is responsible for unlawful payments
made to Plantscape Limited.
£8688.90 on 15th July 2015
£6960.90 on 16th September 2015
He is also responsible for entering into a unlawful verbal contract
with Planscape Ltd. After Plantscape Ltd one year contract expired
in 2013. When I asked him why there was no contract in place he
responded I don't know.
Despite a location meeting regarding serious Health and safety concerns
with the newly installed skatepark in Cutts Close the Clerk ignored
my concerns and thankfully Cllr Vince Howard stepped in and sorted
it out.
At Christmas time I also found a total disregard for public safety
when I pointed out exposed electrics in the high street after the shoddy
installation of the Christmas lights. I ask the Clerk to arrange for a
contractor to make things safe he refused and the danger remained
for many days. In understand in this case he may have been acting
under the instruction of the ex Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis because later
a email from ex Cllr Alf Dewis disgracefully instructed all members to
ignore me.
We have had two meeting since the auditor report was received.
This has not been presented to council. Why? when will this
be placed on the agenda?
I am concerned to read the section in which the Auditor Grant
Thornton claim basically the Council attempted to fob them of
regarding the unlawful conduct carried out by Councillor Alf
Dewis.
I once again request that all members are sent a copy of the councils
response to the questions raised by Grant Thornton relating to
the unlawful conduct of ex Councillor Alf Dewis do I need to place
a freedom of information request.
Surely when the council responds to a serious issue such as unlawful
payments and conduct by a member all Councillors should be
consulted before that response was sent. Cllr Alf Dewis attempted
to cover up is actions until August last year. Did he and the Clerk
collude to give as the Auditor states the impression that what I was
raise was not serious? if so adding that to the list I feel the council
has enough evidence to dismiss the clerk for gross misconduct.
The Clerk also failed has failed his duties many times at meetings
most seriously he permitted the chairman and some members
to unlawfully exclude me from a meeting when I attempted to
raise my concerns of unlawful payments and conduct of our
chairman.
The deputy Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe has continued to support
Cllr Alf Dewis by publicly stating he will miss the Mayor
and describes his unlawful conduct as a minor mistake
That is a disgraceful stance for any Councillor to take.
As members are aware I am proposing a vote of no confidence
against our deputy Mayor at the next meeting. I have included
a few of the most serious reasons in my report attached to the
agenda.
I would like to add the following for members to consider.
At this weeks charity event held in Victoria Cllr Lowe
caused the room to go silent, the cause of this was the
end of something he was saying from the stage. I was not paying attention
until I heard him from the loud speaker saying something which ended
with Oakham Town Councillors are heartless Bastards.
At the time Councillor Lowe was clearly representing Oakham
Town Council at the event as I was also we were both wearing
our council badges. This incident I believe caused considerable
embarrassment to the council. Bad language is never acceptable
in public and especially not from our deputy Mayor who was
representing the council. The hall was full of public and and
Mayors from proper councils who had attended from various
towns from outside the county. I was particularly annoyed
because a lady close to me commented its the only time he
has spoke the truth. I object to being described in this way and
I am sure other members would be also. I know one member
was recently offended after Cllr Lowe called them a Muslim
and a whistle blower in the council chamber.
From
Martin Brookes
My rejected proposal followed by the reason from the LRAC
As we appear to have no proper policy in place to deal with employment issues
it seems the tax payers of Oakham are stuck with a Clerk that can act and do as
he pleases and the cost to the taxpayers of Oakham will continue rise each year.
Dear Oakham Town Council,
It appears a Councillor can not propose a vote of no confidence in the Clerk.
I fully understand the Clerk has suffered bullying from a member who has
resigned from our council.
What I can not accept is we are constantly told we employ this Clerk.
A Clerk who costs the tax payers of Oakham so much much and is often
rude and incompetent.
Only last week I asked for a copy of the Good Councillor guidance
for the Chairman and Deputy to be attached to the agenda.
The Clerk refused to do this, when I suggested I photo copied it and
handed it out at next weeks meeting he reluctantly wrote it in his
diary. The agenda has been sent out and my request has been ignored.
The Clerk frequently ignores me when I raise issues relating to
Council business.
The Council has a contract of employment which is all very one sided
how is it possible that a person can receive a pay rise every year
without any conditions or exceptions attached to that award.
The Clerk ignored my request to refer payments to plantscape ltd
to full council and claims he forget my phone call. He knows
it is a lawful requirement for all payments over £5000 to be approved
by council. Next weeks agenda gives an example of that requirement
Councillors will be asked to approve a payment to made to the
Citizens Advice.
The Clerk also took cash payments in lieu of a pension for a number
of years, when the law recently changed the told the council he
wanted to opt into the most expensive pension scheme and we had no
choice because his contract only permitted the use of that scheme.
I personally think the money the Clerk took in lieu of a pension should
be paid back to the taxpayers of Oakham and put into the scheme.
How did Oakham Town Council end up with an employment contract
which allows the Clerk to opt out and receive money and then opt in
at later date without any financial repayment.
Cllr Alf Dewis handled this employment issue very poorly.
I understand the Clerk is now threatening the council will tribunal
action if we take action against him.
I find this very unacceptable, The Clerk is responsible for unlawful payments
made to Plantscape Limited.
£8688.90 on 15th July 2015
£6960.90 on 16th September 2015
He is also responsible for entering into a unlawful verbal contract
with Planscape Ltd. After Plantscape Ltd one year contract expired
in 2013. When I asked him why there was no contract in place he
responded I don't know.
Despite a location meeting regarding serious Health and safety concerns
with the newly installed skatepark in Cutts Close the Clerk ignored
my concerns and thankfully Cllr Vince Howard stepped in and sorted
it out.
At Christmas time I also found a total disregard for public safety
when I pointed out exposed electrics in the high street after the shoddy
installation of the Christmas lights. I ask the Clerk to arrange for a
contractor to make things safe he refused and the danger remained
for many days. In understand in this case he may have been acting
under the instruction of the ex Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis because later
a email from ex Cllr Alf Dewis disgracefully instructed all members to
ignore me.
We have had two meeting since the auditor report was received.
This has not been presented to council. Why? when will this
be placed on the agenda?
I am concerned to read the section in which the Auditor Grant
Thornton claim basically the Council attempted to fob them of
regarding the unlawful conduct carried out by Councillor Alf
Dewis.
I once again request that all members are sent a copy of the councils
response to the questions raised by Grant Thornton relating to
the unlawful conduct of ex Councillor Alf Dewis do I need to place
a freedom of information request.
Surely when the council responds to a serious issue such as unlawful
payments and conduct by a member all Councillors should be
consulted before that response was sent. Cllr Alf Dewis attempted
to cover up is actions until August last year. Did he and the Clerk
collude to give as the Auditor states the impression that what I was
raise was not serious? if so adding that to the list I feel the council
has enough evidence to dismiss the clerk for gross misconduct.
The Clerk also failed has failed his duties many times at meetings
most seriously he permitted the chairman and some members
to unlawfully exclude me from a meeting when I attempted to
raise my concerns of unlawful payments and conduct of our
chairman.
The deputy Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe has continued to support
Cllr Alf Dewis by publicly stating he will miss the Mayor
and describes his unlawful conduct as a minor mistake
That is a disgraceful stance for any Councillor to take.
As members are aware I am proposing a vote of no confidence
against our deputy Mayor at the next meeting. I have included
a few of the most serious reasons in my report attached to the
agenda.
I would like to add the following for members to consider.
At this weeks charity event held in Victoria Cllr Lowe
caused the room to go silent, the cause of this was the
end of something he was saying from the stage. I was not paying attention
until I heard him from the loud speaker saying something which ended
with Oakham Town Councillors are heartless Bastards.
At the time Councillor Lowe was clearly representing Oakham
Town Council at the event as I was also we were both wearing
our council badges. This incident I believe caused considerable
embarrassment to the council. Bad language is never acceptable
in public and especially not from our deputy Mayor who was
representing the council. The hall was full of public and and
Mayors from proper councils who had attended from various
towns from outside the county. I was particularly annoyed
because a lady close to me commented its the only time he
has spoke the truth. I object to being described in this way and
I am sure other members would be also. I know one member
was recently offended after Cllr Lowe called them a Muslim
and a whistle blower in the council chamber.
From
Martin Brookes
My rejected proposal followed by the reason from the LRAC
As we appear to have no proper policy in place to deal with employment issues
it seems the tax payers of Oakham are stuck with a Clerk that can act and do as
he pleases and the cost to the taxpayers of Oakham will continue rise each year.
Cllr Brookes requested that an item but put on the agenda, of a Vote of no confidence in the Clerk.
The Deputy requested that we seek recommendation from LRALC. Please see below advice given, and therefore will not be on next week's agenda.
Allison
No, a clerk is an employee and employment law specifies that grievance and disciplinary procedures should be followed when dealing with such matters (see the ACAS website). The council MUST follow its own adopted procedures in relation to disciplining staff, and not doing so can actually result in successful claims against an employer.
Also, a vote of no confidence in a public council meeting is not an appropriate way to deal with such matters and would expose the council to huge risks in relation to legal action on a number of potential grounds. Even including such an agenda item on an agenda could, for example, lead to a constructive dismissal claim. If an employer has a contractual disciplinary policy but does not follow it then the employer will be in breach of contract.
Regards,
Jake
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Leicestershire & Rutland Association of Local Councils
Report no: TCO
Appendix:
Agenda Item:
Council
Date of Meeting 13th April 2016
Oakham Town Council
Report Author: Cllr Martin Brookes
Subject: Motion of no confidence in Richard White Clerk and Proper Officer of Oakham Town Council
Applicable Strategy: ?
Background:
I could list a long list of issues I have endured caused by the actions of Richard White but
I shall keep it brief and to the point and highlight what I consider to be the most serious issues
that effect the council.
In 2014 the council approved a payment to Plantscape Ltd at the time there had been no
contract in place.
In 2015 The Clerk emailed members to seek authority to pay a considerable sum of to
Plantscape Ltd, at the time of this request I pointed out to the Clerk that this was unlawful
those of us who took up Cllr training were told no council business can be lawfully conducted
outside a meeting, including email or telephone calls.
The Clerk was present at this training session.
I asked the Clerk to comply with the law and put the matter before full council for the legally
required authorisation.
The Clerk for whatever reason chose to ignore my request and paid Plantscape Ltd.
Around the same time there were safety issues relating to the skatepark which I raised
at a meeting and the Clerk agreed to meet with me at the skatepark to create a list of jobs
that needed urgent attention. During this meeting I discussed paying the contractor
and at the time the Clerk agreed although he had authority to pay the contractor he would
wait until the work was done. He walked away from the meeting and ignored anything that
was agreed at that meeting. I followed this up with Cllr Vincent Howard who thankfully
approached the Clerk and after some hard work, the contractors rectified the issues highlighted
by Cllr Howard..
Up to the Chairman's resignation I have often found the Clerk was not willing to listen
to me and as some members know I have recorded and published times when he has
completely ignored me.
Almost one year on since last years accounts issues not much has changed. It has taken
nearly a year to obtain accounts software as recommended in the Streets report.
I would expect a person to obtain the tools to do there job at the earliest point not
at such a late date.
Proposal:
1. A vote of no confidence in the Clerk.
