After eight years of service to Bembridge Parish Council, its clerk, Emma Goldring, has resigned from the post.
Mrs Goldring read out a heartfelt resignation letter during the parish council meeting last night (Tuesday) and reportedly left the meeting in “floods of tears”.
Emma was “an outstanding clerk”
Many parishioners have posted their dismay at her resignation on the public Facebook Group – Bembridge Community Notice Board – amidst the troubles the council has been experiencing over the past year.
Former Parish Council Chair, Gill Rogers, posted,
“As a community can we ensure that this never happens again. Emma was recognised as an outstanding clerk by her peers and she worked tirelessly for the village.
“We must all learn from this but more importantly we must now protect the remaining staff from the toxic behaviour of a few. Good luck in your new job Emma. You will be missed and thank you for your eight years as clerk.”
‘Vexatious’ behaviour
At the weekend two parishioners posted to the Open Bembridge Facebook Group to say they’d received letters from the parish council warning them to desist in breaches of the ‘vexatious policy’, adding that “detrimental, deleterious and offensive comments” had been made about the office staff.
The letter sent on behalf of the Staffing and Finance Committee read,
“As an employer, Bembridge Parish Council has a legal duty of care, obligations, and responsibilities towards and for our staff. We have had referred to the Staffing and Finance Committee a complaint concerning breaches by you of Bembridge Parish Council’s Vexatious Policy. The Staffing and Finance Committee are tasked with dealing with these breaches of the Vexatious Policy by yourself.
“These breaches have been by emails, in personal visits to the Parish Office, at Full Council and other public meetings, and in posts on social media. These detrimental, deleterious and offensive comments about the office staff have been made by yourself, and the Bembridge Parish Council cannot countenance this behaviour.
“As the first part of implementation of the Bembridge Parish Council’s Vexatious Policy we are writing to you to ask that you desist from this behaviour. We enclose a copy of the Vexatious Policy for your information and reference.”
Parish Council: “A continued and targeted campaign of bullying and harassment”
Bembridge Parish Council have issued the following statement in relation to Emma Goldring’s resignation.
At last night’s Full Council meeting (Tuesday 19th September 2018) our clerk to the Council Mrs Emma Goldring announced her resignation.
This resignation is due to a continued and targeted campaign of bullying and harassment by certain Councillors and their Open Bembridge supporters over a period of some 18 months. This behaviour was unnecessary & unwarranted as she was merely carrying out her duties in a professional manner by implementing the decisions of the Council.
Mrs Goldring has behaved in an exemplary and professional way throughout this period which included nasty and vile personal comments both in person and on Social Media together with attempts to incite hatred.
Many of those responsible for this behaviour do not understand the legal process or the duties bestowed upon their Parish Council. There are several Agenda items that must be discussed in private (excluding the press and public) due to the confidential nature of its content, this is a legislative and a mandatory requirement.
Every time an Agenda is published, a pack is made available to all Councillors with any accompanying documentation for them to read and understand to enable them to discuss or reach a decision at the Council meeting. This is the way Councils are run.
The Code of Conduct which currently exists for complaints against Councillors is totally worthless since the introduction of the Localism Act 2011. This essentially means that complaints if upheld offer no meaningful sanctions which totally undermines the Parish & Town Council sector.
The awards that Bembridge Parish Council has won under the Clerkship of Mrs Goldring are numerous and adorn the wall of the Parish Office. Under the Hampshire & IOW Village Of The Year awards, Mrs Goldring also won the award for Most Inspirational Individual not once, but TWICE, the only person ever to do so; this is a testament to her drive, commitment and professional approach to her work.
In summation the Parishioners of Bembridge have lost an integral part of the Parish Council and will be left with a void that will be very hard to fill. We wish her well in her endeavours and in her own words: “this is not an Open Bembridge victory, it is a travesty for the genuine people of Bembridge”.
Bembridge Parish Council
Cllr refutes allegations
Following publication of the above, Cllr Steane has issued the following statement
A statement issued by Bembridge Parish Council states the Clerk, Emma Goldring, resigned because of a “targeted campaign of bullying and harassment by certain Cllrs and their Open Bembridge supporters” including “vile and personal comments in person and on social media together with attempts to incite hatred”.
As Cllrs we knew nothing about the statement before issue, and don’t agree with it. It was not issued by the Council, but by some Cllrs to smear others. It breaks the Council’s Media policies and further brings the Council into disrepute.
There are Complaints Procedures for staff, of which Mrs Goldring was the custodian, outside of the Cllrs Code Of Conduct, and no complaints have ever been lodged by her. We deny that she has been bullied and harassed by any Cllrs to our knowledge, and no examples have been given to back up any allegations.
Mrs Goldring’s resignation came as a surprise to us and was entirely of her own volition.
To our mind, for some councillors to seek to make “political” capital out of it is at best distasteful. At worst a disgraceful attempt to damage other Cllrs.
We wish Mrs Goldring well in her future endeavours, and thank her for her contribution over the last seven years.
Article edit
12.15 20th Sept – Statement from Cllr Steane added
21:38 – Removed names of four councillors from Cllr Steane statement.
