3 September (Part 1) - Lost in the post
A little over two months ago, just after certain rumours began to circulate
about councillor Peter Craske, I attended a meeting
of the Standards Committee. Several members of the Bexley Council
Monitoring Group (BCMG) were there too.
As the meeting drew to a close BCMG member Mick Barnbrook, asked Mr. Akin Alabi,
Head of legal Services, about the new guidance on Standards issued by the Department for
Communities and in particular what the council would be able to do should a
councillor be found guilty of a criminal offence. Both Mick and I were left with
a clear impression that
Mr. Alabi had asked the responsible government
department about exactly that and he was awaiting a response.
The
correspondence was unlikely to be sent to Mr. Barnbrook without a formal
request, so Mick made one. “During a conversation with me after the above
committee meeting had ended, and in the presence of witnesses, Mr. Alabi
informed me that he had written to Government seeking advice on what action
could be taken under the new code of conduct to deal with councillors charged
with or convicted of a criminal offence. Please provide a copy of that letter.”
Bexley council responded on 7th August but it didn’t answer the question. Bexley’s answer was to provide only a link
to
the Under Secretary of State’s letter to all local authorities
which was already in the public domain. They made no comment on the letter the
head of Legal Services was supposed to have sent. As Bexley council seemed to be
playing hard to get again, Mick asked the Communities Department if they could
supply a copy of Mr. Alabi’s letter. They replied 12 days later.
This is what they said…
Maybe the Department for Communities and Local
Government has a very poor filing system, or maybe there is another explanation.
Where Bexley council is concerned it is usually advisable to think the worst.