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Facebook Linda Derrick for Ridgeway East
6 October 2023
It’s been well over a week since HPC had its Extraordinary meeting about sanctioning me and no-one from HPC has let me know what was decided. I’m not sure what’s happened to the Council’s commitment to its Civility and Respect Pledge – but it seems to have vanished in the night.
The Bucks Free Press did let me know what happened at the meeting (thank you) and wrote an article for the paper.
Apart from that, all I have to go on is a statement on HPC’s website and a response from the deputy Monitoring Officer last week.
I am still confused. But let’s have a go at clearing the fog.
1. Sanctions for not being able to comply with my sanctions
I think the Council is saying in its statement online that I failed to carry out the sanctions imposed on me in April.
However, one of those sanctions was a request not a requirement; I was merely asked to apologise.
The other sanction was a requirement; I was required to undertake some training. I have not been able to undertake the training because the training I was offered was not agreed nor authorised by Council. Payment for the training breached HPC’s Financial Regulations. It was also a waste of taxpayers’ money. I was offered nothing else even though I requested it.
I think the Council is then saying that not complying with the sanctions is in itself a breach of the Code of Conduct. The council will therefore be making a complaint to the Monitoring Office.
Presumably this complaint will be, or has been, prepared by a locum Clerk at considerable expense to the taxpayer.
The Monitoring Officer will then take the complaint through the three stages of the complaints process, including an investigation, then put her recommendations to a three- person Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee which will then put its recommendations to the Committee itself. The Committee will then decide whether to recommend sanctions to HPC and, if it does, HPC will then decide whether to impose them.
Goodness knows how much this process will cost in officers’ time and taxpayers’ money.
I wrote a long and detailed e-mail to Cllr Jones, the Chair of HPC, on 11 September, explaining why I could not comply with the requirement to undertake the training. My e-mail was ignored by the parish council and I was aggressively and repeatedly questioned by Cllr Jones at the September Full Council meeting.
In the circumstances, I think I am justified in declining to take part in this process. I hope that giving BC a clear run through the process will reduce their costs.
I assume Bucks Council will manage the complaint as quickly as it can. Let’s see if it can get its recommendations back to HPC by Christmas.
And I’m still waiting for my training.
2. Allegations made against me by Cllr Main with proposals for more sanctions.
The deputy Monitoring Officer has now clarified to me that Cllr Main’s proposed additional sanctions (i.e. to contact or name no-one at HPC on pain of death) have nothing to do with 1. above.
The deputy Monitoring Officer clarified that these proposals “did not purport to impose any additional “sanctions” in relation to the previous complaints.”
Which begs the question – then what on earth are these sanctions in relation to? To put it another way, what on earth have I done, and when did I do it, to justify Cllr Main proposing these sanctions? Or to justify Cllr Jones putting them on the agenda and Council considering them?
Even a kangaroo court gives the accused some idea of what they are accused.
The deputy Monitoring Office confirms that “sanctions can only arise as the consequence of a Code of Conduct investigation by the principal authority” i.e. Bucks Council. He has confirmed that the sanctions proposed by Cllr Main, if implemented, would be unlawful, as I suggested.
It beggars belief that Cllr Main put proposals to Council which would have led to Council acting unlawfully and, in doing so, made untrue and damaging allegations about me, and with absolutely no warning.
It beggars belief that Cllr Jones put these proposals on the Council’s agenda.
The deputy Monitoring Officer also told me that “the Parish Council was aware, but was reminded, that ‘sanctions’ can only arise as the consequence of a Code of Conduct investigation by the principal authority.”
I can only ask if the Parish Council “was aware”, how did these unlawful proposals land up on the agenda. If Cllr Main was “aware”, why did she propose them? If Cllr Jones was aware, why did he put them on the agenda when he called the meeting?
Alternatively, perhaps the Council, including Cllrs Main and Jones, were not aware and had to be told at the meeting rather than be “reminded”? I wasn’t there but from the article in the Bucks Free Press, this might be a distinct possibility.
Were Cllrs Main and Jones aware the proposals would have led to HPC breaking the law – or did they just not have a clue?
The deputy Monitoring Officer told me he understands this issue was referred by the Council at its September meeting to its HR Committee “to be addressed within existing HR processes and mindful of the distinctions between this and the Code of Conduct regime”.
HPC has an Employee Handbook. It sets out the HR processes for any “problems or misunderstandings” which may arise. As is customary, the procedures start by recommending open discussion and an informal approach and then move to formal complaints.
None of this has happened. So, it is difficult to see how the unlawful sanctions landed up on HPC’s agenda in direct breach of its Employees Handbook.
The HR Committee is responsible for managing the HR procedures. It is chaired by Cllr Prashar and its members are Cllrs Main, Cadwallader and Jones.
In view of the comments expressed by members of the HR Committee at the Extraordinary Council meeting and recorded by the Bucks Free Press, I fail to see how the HR Committee can address this issue with any degree of objectivity, professionalism or impartiality.
Two of its members, Cllrs Jones and Main, clearly don’t understand that HPC should not act outside the law. None of the HR Committee understands how to manage the Council’s HR procedures.
To have any credibility, the issue will need to be addressed by an independent person specialising in HR in the local authority sector. But that of course, would result in even more taxpayers’ money being spent on something which has absolutely no substance.
Next meeting of HR Committee
Council resolved at its July meeting that the next meeting of the HR Committee would be on 17 October. The meeting has now been moved to 10 October without Council’s approval, in breach of HPC’s Standing Orders.
HPC’s website still says the meeting will take place on 17 October and the agenda for next week has not been put on the website.
If you want to see the agenda, it is on the notice board outside the Council offices in Great Kingshill.
The summons to the meeting has also been issued to the wrong councillor so the meeting cannot be properly constituted.
I have asked for the meeting to be cancelled.
One of the items on the agenda is consideration of Cllr Main’s proposals. The item is to be held in confidence so I won’t be able to attend – even if the meeting is still held and if I wanted to attend.
P.S. I believe the meeting of the Environment and Services Committee arranged for next week has been set up unlawfully. I have asked for that to be cancelled too. Its agenda is also on the notice board outside the Council office in Great Kingshill.
Good governance has simply disappeared at HPC.