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Facebook Linda Derrick for Ridgeway East
14 October 2024
I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions that Mr. Truppin, HPC’s locum Clerk, has refused to provide me with invoices.
Residents have said they don’t see how he can do that.
Well, it’s simple. He ignored my requests for 5 months. He only responded when the Council was threatened with contempt of court proceedings by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Then he refused to provide the invoices. Then he shouted at me (again).
Other councillors stood by and did nothing (or joined in with the shouting).
And Council has failed so far to carry out an internal review of Mr. Truppin’s handling of my request.
The details are below.
But I am baffled. Why is Mr. Truppin (and presumably other councillors) refusing to provide invoices to councillors?
Providing copies of invoices is not complicated. The Council doesn’t lack staff resources – it has perhaps twice as many staff as the previous Council. And much of the work of the Council is contracted out.
You have to ask if the Council has something to hide.
The details
I asked Mr. Truppin in March for the invoices for the payments which Council “received” at its March meeting. (Payments are actually required to be authorised by Council but I won’t go into that again for now; the issue is with the external auditor.)
I got no response to my request. So, I complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on 20 June. (ICO’s procedures mean complainants have to wait 40 working days.)
The ICO wrote to Mr. Truppin on 27 June requiring Council to provide me with a substantive response within 10 working days of their letter. The ICO said it would issue a Decision Notice finding the Council in breach of the Freedom of Information Act, if the Council did not do this.
The ICO also reminded Mr. Truppin about another information request to which the Council had not responded.
Mr. Truppin ignored this letter and failed to inform Council. I copied the ICO’s letter to other councillors. They did not respond.
The ICO duly issued a formal Decision Notice on 17 July finding Hughenden Parish Council in breach of the Freedom of Information Act and requiring the Council to provide a substantive response to me within 30 calendar days. The ICO said failure to comply might mean proceedings in the High Court.
The ICO also reminded Mr. Truppin about two other cases where it had issued Decision Notices.
Mr. Truppin ignored the Decision Notices and didn’t inform Council about any of them. I informed Council about the Decision Notices. No-one responded.
On 19 August the ICO wrote to Mr. Truppin saying they would start proceedings for contempt of court in 7 days unless the Council complied with the Decision Notice on the invoices. Mr. Truppin did not copy this letter to Council and Council still doesn’t know that it was threatened with court proceedings.
2 days later Mr. Truppin responded to the ICO – but not to me.
The ICO told Mr. Truppin that he was required to respond to me – and suggested how he should do this.
Only then, 5 months after I requested the invoices, did I get a response.
Mr. Truppin refused to provide the invoices. He said they were available at Council and Finance Committee meetings and councillors could also make an appointment to see the invoices at the Council offices. Councillors, however, were not allowed to have copies.
In line with HPC’s and the ICO’s procedures, I asked the Council for an internal review of Mr. Truppin’s handling of my request. I did that on 27 August.
Councils are required to carry out internal reviews within 20 working days or, in exceptional circumstances, within 40 working days (or by 24 September or 22 October respectively).
I am still waiting for the outcome of that internal review which is being carried out by Cllr Kearey, as chair, and Cllr Jones. I had a short meeting with the two councillors to ensure they had all the papers (they didn’t) and they understood the procedures (Cllr Jones didn’t).
In the meantime, I attended a Finance Committee meeting on 1 October. As Mr. Truppin said invoices would be available at Finance Committee meetings, I asked to see three invoices. I was shouted at and harassed when I made that request.
Part of an e-mail I sent after the meeting to Cllr Kearey, copied to other councillors, is below. I have had no response.
So now you know how I have been refused copies of the invoices. You couldn’t make it up.
Oh, - and the other two Decision Notices are still outstanding.
E-mail to Cllr Kearey, 2 October 2024
"Dear Simon
…. At the Finance Committee last evening, Mr. Truppin said he had taken advice on his refusal to provide the invoices. I did not pursue this at the time as once again I was shouted at by Mr. Truppin. I was also aggressively spoken to by Cllr Jones and Mr. Wilding.
...However, I would be grateful if the internal review could take into account not only my previous e-mail setting out my grounds for my dissatisfaction about Mr. Truppin' response but also the fact that the non-confidential supporting papers for the March 2023 Council meeting include all the invoices see AGENDA-21.03.23-with-Supporting-Papers.pdf (hughenden-pc.gov.uk) Appendix P.
So for that meeting, invoices were not only provided electronically for councillors but were also put in the public domain.
The locum Clerk for the March 2023 meeting was Louise Steele, the Finance Director of LGRC, the company that provides Mr. Truppin's services, and now HPC's RFO.
The point is that Ms. Steele, LGRC's Finance Director, was obviously prepared to send invoices electronically to councillors - and even to make them public. So, I am not quite sure who Mr. Truppin took advice from.
I must also say that I did not appreciate the ludicrous position last evening when I asked during the relevant item on the agenda to see three of the invoices. I was initially told to find them myself in the 6" deep folders of invoices.
I asked for help and it took 10 minutes for the deputy Clerk to find the first invoice. I was then told I was wasting the Committee's time - and that I should have given prior notice and arrived 15 minutes early for the meeting in order to see the invoices.
As I had returned from holiday and had only been able to read the papers late yesterday afternoon, that would have been difficult.
I was then told the remaining 2 invoices would be provided at the end of the meeting - I would just have to wait until after the meeting.
Council is responsible for the financial management of the Council and councillors are responsible for oversight of the finances. I should not be obstructed in carrying out my responsibilities by Mr. Truppin, Cllr Jones and Mr. Wilding nor should I be harassed and bullied at a Committee meeting.
I cannot understand why councillors cannot receive these invoices electronically. If Ms. Steele was able to do it – lawfully - last year, I assume Mr. Truppin can do it - lawfully - this year."
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