As a town Councillor I have spent a year trying to find out who was paid £18,000
The Council refused to give me the basic information. Who had been paid the public
money.
As an elector I attempted to exercise my rights afforded to all electors by the audit act.
I was provided with redacted information an unlawful interference with my rights.
Auditors Grant Thornton have suggested I approach the courts.
I now know as an elector who received the money as I have been able to remove
attempts to redact the name from the documents provided by Oakham Town Council.
The Council is objecting to me publishing details of this payment. due to the non disclosure
agreement between the council and the former Clerk Richard White.
This post and yesterday's is made using information lawfully obtained as an elector
so Oakham Town Councils Chairman has no right to write to me via another member
asking me to remove my blog posts.
As a Councillor I was unlawfully excluded from all the meetings when the matter of the clerk
was discussed so as a Councillor I have no confidential information to reveal.
Dear Cllr Peter Ind
Thank you for forwarding the Chairman's email, did you not say yesterday you were not going to do this?
Please can you let the chairman know, all the information I blogged on the 2nd August was obtained
in my capacity as an elector and not a Councillor and therefore published in my capacity as an elector.
Payments made by Oakham Town Council are not exempt and the information I refer to was obtained as an elector.
It is unlawful for Oakham Town Council to interfere with electors rights afforded to them by the audit act.
I made a request as an elector to inspect all aspects of the council accounts and as a blogger.
The time for the council to afford the new rights to a blogger passed.
The time for electors was just in time because the council had posted the required notice
later than expected.
Oakham Town Council has interfered with my rights as an elector, rights given by to elector by the audit act.
Those rights give an elector the right to inspect and make copies of all aspects of the councils accounts
as Oakham Town Council is awkward and unco-operative towards me as an elector and a Councillor I suggested
a compromise and was willing for the Clerk Allison Greave to hand me copies of the statments and documents
relating to the two electronic payments totally £18,000 made in 2016
I had received a email from the Clerk Allison Greaves stating nothing would be redacted from the statement which
turned out to be untrue.
turned out to be untrue.
As all the information obtained as an elector it is for me to chose what I do with it. I am publishing it all as an elector along with this email.
I request the Chairman or the council stop asjing me to remove this lawfully acquired information from my blog.
I am publishing the statement with Richards Whites name revealed (a little electronic magic used) the electors of Oakham have a right to know who received £18,000 of their money.
Electors also have a right to know that Oakham Town Council did not follow the correct procedures before this money was
paid.
The procedures failed include:
The Council failed to approve the payment, they simply agreed with the staffing commmittees recomendation to
accept the clerks request at the staffing committee were given consent to make an offer to the former Clerk.
Once that offer was accepted by the former Clerk the matter should have returned to full council for approval.
The Council also failed to comply with its own regulations and the audit act and did not bring
the payment of over £5000 to full council for approval before paying it. Ironically one of the failings of the
former Clerk when he failed to bring a payment made to Plantscape Ltd for over £5000 because he had renewed
a contract without council consent.
Only one Councillor Stan Stubbs signed the electronic payments off when two Councillors
are required to sign.
When the council approved the August 2016 Accounts Item, the bank statement was not included in
the agenda pack and the schedule of payments also approved had the recipients name redacted.
At the meeting I asked who had been paid the money and the Chairman Adam Lowe refused to give
the name, despite this all other members approved the accounts and payments for August 2016. I am not sure
how lawful that it is for Councillors to approve, when they don't have the basic information
of who received a large sum of money in front of them?
You will find a lot of councils that pay off staff and hide the reason behind a non-disclosure agreement, they can not
hide the payment amounts or who received them because it is public money.
there are many examples in the public domain, Corby I think being the biggest payment.
The transparency act states the council should be publishing details of all payments made over £100 on the councils website.
Oakham Town Council are currently not complying with many parts of that act.
From
Martin Brookes
--
Sent from my Android phone with mail.com Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
On 03/08/2017, 08:53 peter ind wrote:
Noted.
--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 3/8/17, MJHaley wrote:
Sent from my Android phone with mail.com Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
On 03/08/2017, 08:53 peter ind
Noted.
--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 3/8/17, MJHaley
Subject: Bloggng exempt information
To: "Martin Brookes"
Cc: "Debbie Mogg", "peter ind" , "Allison Greaves"
To: "Martin Brookes"
Cc: "Debbie Mogg"
Date: Thursday, 3 August, 2017, 8:50
Dear Cllr Brookes
It has been brought to my attention that on 2 August 2017 you
have yet again blogged confidential information that was
presented to Council as an exempt agenda item relating
to the settlement of a payment made to the former OTC
Clerk, Mr R.White.
You are also aware that the settlement is subject to a
non-disclosure agreement. Please be advised your action has
put Council at risk of litigation and I am requesting that
you remove this blog immediately.
Kind
regards
Cllr
Michael HaleyChairman
Oakham Town Council
