Thursday 28th February 2013

Parish council payout

to rebel member it tried to ban

JON GRIFFIN - Business Staff

A "playground" parish pump dust-up in a genteel Warwickshire village has left taxpayers with a bill of thousands of pounds -after a ban on a veteran councillor was overturned following a High Court skirmish.

Henley-in-Arden Parish Council has lost a landmark battle against rebel Councillor Bill Leech after being branded 'dysfunctional' by Stratford District Council.

Independent group Councillor Leech was accused of harassment and bullying parish clerk Jenny Walsh after he argued in a lengthy campaign that the running costs of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council were too high.

Coun Leech says that since 2000, Henley Parish Council has spent £280,000 more than its counterpart in Tanworth-in-Arden, which has a larger population. The increasingly acrimonious spat led to Councillor Leech being banned by the ruling group from key council activities, including visiting the parish office, sitting on council committees or communicating with the parish clerk.

But Coun Leech emerged triumphant after taking the council to the High Court in Birmingham in protest at the ban, which he claimed was illegal. The council has agreed to pay £8,000 towards his costs and to lift the ban after agreeing an out of court settlement.

He said after the out of court settlement: "There has been a shameful attempt to label my campaign for economy and efficiency as harassment and bullying of the parish clerk.

"Fortunately the Stratford District / Council Standards and Ethics Committee have consistently confirmed following eight separate complaints over two years that this was not the case. In their final judgment; Stratford District Council called the Henley Parish Council "dysfunctional" and the parish clerk "provocative."

"I believe that the majority of residents now believe that we should have a new and more representative parish council which believes in democracy, economy and efficiency."

Coun Mike Willmott, who is the chairman of the Henley Independents and has known Coun Leech for over 30 years, added: "I believe it is a disgraceful abuse of the democratic process when an elected councillor is persecuted with an illegal ban for challenging the ruling group of the parish council over their spendthrift ways and whose only recourse was to instigate a judicial review of the decision.

"The Henley Independents will continue to campaign for a simpler, cheaper council that can give more money to the many deserving causes in Henley."

Former parish councillor Sue Osborne, who was on Henley Parish Council for three years and stood down at the last election in May 2012, said: "I am constantly surprised by the complete absence of reasoned discussion and debate at council meetings. The pervading atmosphere is one of bickering and point scoring which is more reminiscent of a group of six-year-olds in a school playground."

Coun Leech added: "No proper procedure was followed in advance of handing down their ban, breaking the laws relating to fair trials first established by Magna Carta in 1215 and now covered by the Human Rights Act."

A jointly agreed statement previously issued by Coun Leech and Henley Parish Council said: "Councillor Bill Leech and Beaudesert and Henley Parish Council are pleased to announce that the legal proceedings brought by Councillor Leech against Beaudesert and Henley Parish Council have been resolved.

"Councillor Leech had commenced proceedings to challenge the lawfulness of the restrictions imposed on him by the council. Without any admittance of wrongdoing and in order to save further public funds being expended the council has now agreed to lift those restrictions and to make a contribution towards the legal costs incurred by councillor Leech.

"All councillors, including councillor Leech have repeated assurances that they will abide by the Code of Conduct for councillors. Both the council and councillor Leech are pleased that this matter has been resolved and look forward to serving the interests of the people of Beaudesert and Henley in the New Year."

On January 21 council chairman Les Goodman and the vice-chairman Chris Milsom resigned their positions but remained as councillors. Alternate members from the ruling group were elected by a majority vote.

Parish clerk Jenny Walsh added: "The ban on councillor Leech was in no way connected with his alleged concerns about excessive administration costs."

Why is Ettington Council so much more efficient?

Resident writes "JPC should be able to save £25,000 pa"

I have just seen an advert for Ettington and Fulready Parish Council who require a new Parish Clerk.

I was amazed and surprised to see that the post will require the Clerk to work 25-30 hours per MONTH and to work from home. My understanding of Henley’s situation is that our Parish Clerk works more than 30 hours per WEEK, plus we pay for a dedicated Parish Council office at a cost of around £7,000 pa.

So my question is this – whilst I appreciate that Ettington is smaller than Henley, how can it be that we need a Clerk to work more than 120 hours per month, plus the associated office costs whilst Ettington can manage their affairs on A QUARTER of these working hours each month (and no associated office costs of course)?

If our Clerk is really being kept this busy (and I have no reason to believe that she isn’t), then surely our JPC should be talking to Ettington Parish Council to see how they can handle their affairs much more efficiently, and with a correspondingly smaller workload, than we seem to be able to do.

Looking at the Local Council pay scales (as referenced in the advert), I would estimate that Henley’s total costs of employing a Parish Clerk (and the associated office accommodation) would be around £25,000 more than Ettington’s combined costs (including office accommodation). I’m sure a quick call from our JPC to Ettington Parish Council would provide a more accurate figure than this guesstimate.

In these times of austerity, and with the impending rise in the precept, I think it is imperative that the JPC should be investigating all areas of its activities and expenditure to see where it could save money.

Yours sincerely,

Henley Resident - Name and address supplied and withheld

So are JPC’s Costs Too High?

Source: Stratford District Council

Henley JPC has spent £280,000 more than Tanworth in Arden Parish Council since 2000, according to figures released by Stratford District Council, write our HI correspondent.

Prior to 2000, Tanworth in Arden Parish Council had higher parish council taxes (precepts) than Henley JPC.

Since 2000, Henley's precepts (parish council tax) have escalated and have exceeded the precepts charged by Tanworth by a total of £280,000 over this period.

Both councils serve similar sized populations of around 3,000.

The chart shows a comparison of precepts with the neighbouring parish of Tanworth in Arden. The reduction in the Henley precept in 2011/12 was due to money being drawn from reserves, so that the ‘controlling group’ could claim in the JPC Newsletter prior to the 2012 parish election that there had been cost savings, which was not the case.

Remember, over 50% of Henley and Beaudesert’s precept (the money you pay each year) is spent on administration costs. Some of this money could be put to much better use around Henley.

Report by HI Correspondent (Not the editor)

To support the Henley Independents, click here

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Minister concerned about High Level of Parish Council Increases

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has told parish councils to rethink average 3% hikes to their council tax precept - which he said are outstripping levies raised by the rest of local government.

Speaking at the NALC Larger Councils' conference, Mr Pickles urged local councillors to make sure they are not overburdening residents with increased taxes.

'It hasn't escaped my noticed that, at a time when most districts are freezing their council tax, the average parish precept has gone up by 3%. And the trend is seeing parish increases outstripping the rest of local government,' said Mr Pickles.

He added the DCLG was prepared to review principles governing council tax referendums, but demanded parish councillors 'square' any rises with their electorate. 'Can you really look your local folk in the eye?' Pickles asked delegates.

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“Townhalls hiking Council Tax are placing an intolerable burden on already struggling families. These tax rises hit the poorest households the hardest and after a decade in which Council Tax nearly doubled the last thing taxpayers need are further hikes.
The councils exploiting loopholes or planning increases just under the threshold to dodge referendums are showing utter contempt for local taxpayers.
The majority of councils are freezing Council Tax, some are even cutting it. The rest should follow suit rather than picking peoples pocket’s once again.”

Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance

Landmark Defeat for JPC's 'Ruling Group'

In England there are some 8,500 parish and town councils constituted under successive Local Government Acts of Parliament. Oversight to ensure that these councils operate according to the law is provided by the Administrative Court which is part of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. This court exercises the High Court's supervisory jurisdiction mainly through a procedure known as "judicial review" and may make mandatory orders or injunctions to compel a council to do its duty or to stop it from acting illegally.

The Administrative Court has approved and sealed the Court Order relating to the unlawful ban placed on Cllr William Leech by the Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Joint Parish Council (JPC). This Court Order is not a gagging order and so the full details of the case can be reported as it is no longer 'sub judice'.

Regular readers of Henley NEWS will be aware of Cllr Bill Leech’s on-going campaign against the excessive costs incurred by the Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Joint Parish Council.

Since Bill Leech, pictured below, was first elected in May 2008, he has maintained that the administrative costs of running the JPC are too high (especially when compared with other, similar parish councils) and that savings could be made – these savings could then be used for the benefit of the community, or as a basis to reduce the precept (the money you pay to the JPC each year).

As a councillor he is entitled to challenge other councillors and the parish clerk in any way he chooses so long as he does not contravene the Council's Code of Conduct. Indeed, it should be beneficial to the whole of the JPC, and to the people of Henley and Beaudesert more generally, that someone is prepared to take enough interest in this matter.

However, Cllr Leech’s on-going questioning of the JPC’s costs has not been appreciated by those members of the JPC who established this high administrative cost base in the first place. Between 2009 and 2011 the ‘ruling group’ on the Beaudesert & Henley-in-Arden Joint Parish Council, comprising principally Cllr Les Goodman, Cllr Roger Hubbocks, Cllr George Matheou and the Parish Clerk Mrs Jenny Walsh, mounted a campaign to discredit Cllr Leech by misinterpreting Cllr Leech's campaign for economy and efficiency as 'harassment and bullying against the parish clerk'.

Eight complaints were made to the Standards and Ethics Committee of Stratford District Council against Cllr Leech, five of these by the parish clerk. All were rejected with two minor 'procedural' exceptions. Cllr Leech has always maintained these 'procedural' exceptions would have been overturned by a Judicial Review, but he served a two week ban missing only one council meeting.

In its last judgment, the Standards and Ethics Committee of Stratford District Council described the Joint Parish Council as "dysfunctional" and the parish clerk as "provocative". The cost of reviewing all these complaints was put at more than £10,000, paid for by council taxpayers. This should have been the end of the matter.

However, the ‘ruling group’, frustrated by their lack of success with the Standards & Ethics Committee, then instigated an unlawful ban on Cllr Leech preventing him from visiting the parish office, sitting on any of the council's committees or communicating with the parish clerk. This was communicated to Cllr Leech in an unsigned letter from Cllr Hubbocks (who was Chairman at the time). Cllr Leech did not challenge this unlawful ban as the 2012 parish council election was fast approaching.

At the parish council election in May 2012, Cllr Leech was re-elected and Cllr Hubbocks lost his seat. In August 2012, Cllr Les Goodman, the new chairman, imposed an indefinite and unlawful ban on Cllr Leech - preventing him from visiting the parish office, sitting on any of the council's committees or communicating with the parish clerk – this was effectively limiting Cllr Leech’s role as a parish councillor so he could not perform the role he had been elected to do.

JPC Chairman Goodman was warned 3 times that the ban was illegal

Cllr Leech wrote to Cllr Goodman advising him that the ban was illegal, and the matter would have to be referred for Judicial Review at major cost to the parish council taxpayers.

Before commencing a judicial review, the court procedure requires that one formal letter, called a pre-action protocol letter, be sent by the claimant to the defendant. The purpose of this letter is to identify the issues in dispute and establish whether litigation can be avoided. Cllr Leech wrote three such letters. The Parish Council should have taken heed of these letters, and rescinded the ban immediately. This would have avoided all the legal costs but the 'ruling group' chose to spend parish council taxpayers' money fighting an unwinnable case. Cllr Goodman dismissed the last warning letter saying, "Your letter regarding a Judicial Review must be your decision".

High Court Orders the ban to be quashed and legal costs to be paid by Council

Cllr Leech instructed leading council David Lock QC, who was selected by the Birmingham Law Society to be their “Barrister of the Year” in 2011.

After receiving the High Court papers and taking legal advice, the JPC agreed, by a majority decision, to accept a Court Order without going to trial. The Court Order required the lifting of the ban and paying £8,000 towards Cllr Leech’s legal costs.

Chairman Goodman resigns & Joint Parish Council faces a bill of about £13,500

The Joint Parish Council's legal costs in defending this avoidable action including paying the claimant's legal costs are estimated to be about £13,500. It is to be hoped that the JPC will now tell residents how much of their council tax money was been spent on trying to defend their unlawful action.

On 21st January 2013 the current Chairman Cllr Les Goodman and the Vice-Chairman Cllr Chris Milsom resigned their appointments but remained as councillors. Alternate members from the ‘ruling group’ were elected by a majority vote. The parish clerk and the new vice-chairman Cllr Matheou wrote letters to the editor of the Stratford Herald which were published on Thursday 31st January whilst the matter was still 'sub-judice'.

Chairman Cllr Hubbocks has yet to write to Cllr Leech advising him that the unlawful ban has been lifted. Despite being instructed to lift the ban, pay Cllr Leech's legal costs and the former chairman resigning, the ‘ruling group’ still maintain that they have done nothing wrong.

This avoidable dispute should be seen as an investment in democracy. The price paid of £13,500 can be recouped with savings of around £20,000 per annum if more Henley Independents are elected to enable them to run the budget of the JPC.

Ban on councillor contacting parish clerk goes to court

TAXPAYERS in Henley will have to cough up over £4,000 more than last year to their "dysfunctional" parish council whose action in banning one of its members from contacting the parish clerk is currently subject to a judicial review.

A 5.56 per cent increase in the council's budget was agreed at a meeting on Monday night at which both the council chairman, Cllr Les Goodman, and vice-chairman, Cllr Chris Milsom resigned in advance of the legal ruling.

The judicial review has been instigated by Cllr Bill Leech as a result of the council banning him from contacting parish clerk Jenny Walsh. The ban arose out of his campaign against the council administrative costs.

The resignations are the latest developments in a long-running dispute between Cllr Leech and the rest of the council. The council's difficulties in working together were investigated by Stratford District Council in 2011 when the parish council was described as "dysfunctional" at a meeting of the district council's standards and ethics committee.

At Monday's meeting there was standing room only as the Henley public packed into the Baptist Church Hall to see the council elect a new chairman and set its budget for 2013-14.

Cllr Roger Hubbocks was elected chairman over council newcomer, Cllr Mike Willmott. Cllr George Matheou was elected vice-chairman over Cllr Elaine Field. Chairman of Henley Independents, Cllr Willmott was first elected in a by-election last November but was disqualified after he failed to attend his first council meeting. He was then returned unopposed in a second by-election earlier this month.

The voting highlighted the deep division of the council with the four Independents voting together against the eight other councillors.

An irate Henley High Street resident, Sarah Cossey, berated them voting in their cliques. She said that at least the vice-chairman should be a Henley Independent to fairly represent the council, concluding: "Shame on you for letting Henley down yet again." This was met with applause from the public.

Before that, Cllr Goodman explained that he resigned over the judicial review into the council's treatment of Cllr Leech, currently sub judice, being considered by a judge at Birmingham Administrative Court.

Cllr Goodman said: "I obviously had great difficulty with that situation and leaving a meeting in December that did not leave me with a lot of hope, I had a difficult situation to consider.

I have spent Christmas and the New Year considering my position and I am therefore resigning as chairman."

But when he began to talk about the council's defence of the judicial review, his out-going speech was interrupted by Cllr Leech who told him that the matter was subjudice and should not be spoken about in a public meeting.

The council is requiring residents to fork out £82,412 for its 2013-14 budget, compared to the £78,070 budget for 2012-13, a 5.56 per cent increase for the 4,500 people of Henley and Beaudesert.

The four Henley Independents, particularly Cllr Elaine Field, questioned the need for such a hike considering the council will probably have around £45,000 in reserve at the end of the financial year.

Alluding to the judicial review, Cllr Matheou said: "In our case quite a lot of our reserves will disappear for something that we cannot talk about tonight."

Cllr Goodman announced the clerk's salary next year would be £23,450. This accounts for 27 per cent of the council's budget. He said: "The average costs [of salaries] for most parish councils is 64 per cent. We are well down as far as that is concerned."

He also defended the 5.56 per cent council tax increase, which will add £2,000 into the reserves.

Ms Walsh also pointed to income support cuts made by central government that were previously paid directly to parish councils. She said in 2013-14 these losses were being covered by Stratford District Council's council tax support grant—£9,070 for Henley—but warned that if the district council removed this service the year after, then the parish council would have to implement a 15 per cent tax rise in 2014-15 if there was no council tax increase this year.

Report by Matt Wilson, Stratford Herald 24th January 2012