Agenda item

To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

Note:   A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Mr Thompson referring to Item 8 (Annual Report of the Monitoring Officer) on the agenda stated that he would like to ask that the committee consider a form of inquiry based on his comments:

1.            I assume you are aware that there is a Mid Devon Constitution that lays down correct procedure etc for investigation of complaints and who by?

2.            I would like to make you aware that in the period April/May 2018 as a member of the Policy/Finance/Personnel/Committee of Cullompton Town Council, I was informed that a complaint was made against myself and a member of the public by 3 members of staff under the internal grievance procedure, this was rejected and recommended consideration that the complaints go via the code of Conduct procedure - this was a year ago.

There was nothing further said to myself or the member of public until only about 3 to 4 months ago at a council meeting when I asked the clerk what was happening re the complaint, after some hesitation I was informed there was nothing further happening. I took this as the complaint(s) were not being taken any further. I retired from the Council just before elections in May this year owing to health issues and stress owing to a culture of a dysfunctional council — this can be described more fully as needed.

On 16th May 2019, I wrote to the Cullompton Town Clerk asking her to produce to me all documents of complaints which were made under the grievance procedures and not under the Code of Conduct, as this was effectively a year since the original complaints and I had not been made aware of the content or allegation against me.

I was informed that the Monitoring Officer was the person to ask as it was later referred to her under the Code of Conduct.

On 21st May 2019, I was informed by the Monitoring Officer “on discussion with the Independent Person and in light of the rights and freedoms of councillors, we concluded that they should not be taken any further for investigation. Unfortunately, due to intervening complaints, including those which took on a degree of urgency earlier this year, I did not turn those conclusions into a decision letter”. She later said  “The Independent Person responded on 12 August 2018, which I subsequently discussed with him on 14 August 2018 and again briefly on 29 October along with other outstanding complaints.”

I was never informed officially of the complaint, progress of investigation, result of report by the Independent Person or given the opportunity to challenge comments made, I can show that they are inaccurate and questionable as to how they were written. I would also like to state that this is not the first time that the Monitoring Officer has taken a long time in responding to a complaint by myself, It should also be noted that the minutes recorded at previous Standards Committees have also had comments on delays by the Monitoring Officer. I find one year to deal with this complaint against myself is totally unacceptable and highly unprofessional for a person in the her role with a Deputy Monitoring Officer(s) to assist in her absence.

Mr Snow again referring to Item 8 on the agenda stated that Mr Thompson had highlighted the delays of investigating complaints, there had been little interaction and the rules were not being followed. Somethings had been dealt with incorrectly and there should be further inquiry into how complaints are dealt with.

The Monitoring Officer responded stating that she could not discuss the detail of the complaints in an open meeting, but she was happy to circulate her comments should that be required. There had been delays for which she apologised. There was a balance between speed and doing justice to the complaints. There had been delays with workload pressures. There appeared to have been a misunderstanding of the application of the Constitution and the procedures to be applied, none of the complaints had proceeded to formal investigations. However detailed and reasoned decisions had been given and the Independent Person had been consulted.

Councillor Mrs Woollatt stated that when a complaint was made against someone, that could be a very stressful and traumatic thing. There was a need to put things in place so that things don’t drag on. The Monitoring Officer should have adequate resources, the delay had been recognised and what could the Committee do to address the issue.

The Monitoring Officer responded stating that she did write to those complained of. There had been a misunderstanding from conversations with Mr Thompson, when it appeared to her that he was already aware of the complaint which was on the same subject as the grievance. However she would not make that assumption again.

In response to a question by Cllr Taylor, the Monitoring Officer explained that the complaints procedure for formal investigations had timescales as set out in the Constitution, but in relation to the pre-investigation stages, the legal Jurisdiction Test  indicated that these stages would normally be dealt within 30 days, although it was not a fixed requirement.