Thanks to Andrew Turner for sending this over.
Standards Board attitude ‘reprehensible’ claims MP
Andrew Turner today raised in a special debate in the House of Commons the difficulties faced by the six Island Councillors who are under investigation by the Standards Board for England and the many shortcomings in the procedure. During the 30 minute session Mr Turner pointed out to Sadiq Khan, a Minister within the Department for Communities and Local Government, that the investigation had now taken more than a year and there was currently no end in sight. He also raised concerns that new allegations had been made anonymously ten months and thirteen months after the initial complaint.
Mr Turner said during his speech;
“All of these councillors are decent, honest people who work hard for their local communities. The very worst they are guilty of – and I emphasize ‘the worst’ – is an error of judgment. They do not deserve to have been treated this way.”
He also pointed out that Cllr. Brian Mosdell had sadly died during the process before “the opportunity for him and indeed for everyone else to know that his name was cleared has gone”.
Speaking after the debate he said
“I was not expecting the Minister to be able to comment in detail on this particular investigation. It is clear that he could not, but he undertook to take a personal interest in the review at the end of the process and I was pleased to hear that.
“There are some fundamental injustices here, both in the way this case was handled and, more worryingly, in the wider system. The Minister thanked me afterwards for bringing them to his attention. I do believe he will look carefully at what has gone wrong. It is very concerning that people can make anonymous accusations many months after the events, and hide behind a shield of anonymity. It is a fundamental common law right in criminal law that anyone accused knows the evidence against them and the source of it – yet here – where no criminal activity is alleged – that right is denied to these councillors.
“The Chairman of the Standards Board, Dr Robert Chilton, was also present for the debate with one of his senior staff and I was also able to briefly discuss the issues (although not the details of the case) with them. I am hopeful that this whole affair can be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible, or at least those cases not affected by new evidence can be severed from the others and closed.”
