Town hall row deepens (From Witney Gazette)

Town hall row deepens

6:00pm Tuesday 13th March 2007 in Witney By Tim Hughes

COMPLAINTS against two leading members of Witney Town Council have been received by the organisation charged with investigating conduct in local government.

The Standards Board for England has confirmed it has received complaints against the mayor of Witney, Chrissie Curry, and town and West Oxfordshire district councillor David Harvey.

But the row has deepened, with Ms Curry and Mr Harvey claiming to have made their own complaints to the board about two former councillors - Paul Slammin and David Nicholson - who quit the town council following a failed vote of no-confidence in Ms Curry and Mr Harvey.

The Standards Board was unable to confirm who had reported Ms Curry and Mr Harvey, but former town clerk, Pat Nevins, previously told the Witney Gazette that she had lodged a complaint with the body.

Mrs Nevins quit the council last month, citing a range of issues - including the hiring of a firm of private detectives to question town council staff.

It emerged this week that Mrs Nevins was, herself, being investigated by the town council over charges of gross misconduct, following allegations that she had bullied members of staff. Disciplinary proceedings against her were concluded after she resigned.

The Standards Board is an independent body, which investigates allegations that members of local government may have breached their code of conduct.

Its spokesman, Becky Jones, said the complaints against Ms Curry and Mr Harvey covered an 'alleged failure to treat others with respect', and of 'using their positions improperly to confer or secure an advantage or disadvantage to others'.

The board must decide whether to pass the complaint to West Oxfordshire District Council, or take the more serious step of investigating the pair itself through an Adjudication Panel. If it chooses the latter, the pair face a maximum sanction of being disqualified from office for five years. Mr Slammin, who along with fellow Liberal Democrat Mr Nicholson last month resigned from the council in protest at its management, welcomed the start of what he called a 'proper investigation' into affairs at the town hall - which have left many people baffled.

He said: "This is now a matter for the Standards Board - but it is my belief that there can only be one outcome to the investigation. This is something which should worry the council. It is very serious."

He likened the row to America's Watergate scandal, adding: "It is 'Witneygate! The more you look into it, the worse it gets."

In a joint statement, Ms Curry and Mr Harvey defended the council's decision to investigate Mrs Nevins, which they said 'related to problems which surfaced in November 2006, when several members of staff complained to the mayor of being bullied'. They said: "At around the same time, several other disturbing incidents came to light, that called into question the ability of the town clerk to do her job properly." They said private detectives had been called in to carry out a 'fact-finding exercise', adding: "It was necessary and appropriate to use an external company, as this ensured a totally unprejudiced viewpoint when obtaining the evidence." Ms Curry said: "This has been a very distressing time for both councillors and members of staff."

Ms Curry added: "But the important thing was that the matter was handled with great care and strictly in accordance with the advice the council received from its professional advisors."

The Standards Board was unable to confirm whether it had received a complaint against Mr Slammin and Nicholson.