Yahoo News Councillor rejects claims of 'skullduggery and vendetta' in chambers clash
A Redcar and Cleveland Council committee chairwoman has rejected claims she was responsible for “skullduggery and vendetta”.
Carole Morgan was the subject of a members question in the council chambers posed by fellow councillor Tristan Learoyd in which he suggested she had been involved in “plotting” against him.
Earlier this year Cllr Learoyd quit the Liberal Democrat group on the council which Cllr Morgan leads after the group raised concerns about his alleged conduct at meetings and statements he had posted online, leading to his suspension, a move the former described as a “farce”. He was also separately replaced as chairman of the council’s planning committee.
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Cllr Learoyd said the Lib Dem group had become a "group of friends in power" who were guilty of "self-serving introspective politics", while Cllr Morgan said he had shown over a considerable period of time that he was unable to meet “basic requirements” and work collaboratively.
Cllr Learoyd, who previously raised concerns about an apparent attempt to bring a code of conduct complaint against him, referred to Freedom of Information requests which were responded to by the council. One of these showed an e-mail exchange between Cllr Morgan and managing director John Sampson over Cllr Learoyd’s stewardship of the planning committee.
Cllr Learoyd said he questioned Cllr Morgan’s “standing and ability” to act in her role as chairman of the governance committee and the "fiduciary responsibility it holds”.
The governance committee has a number of functions in respect of standards of conduct, including advising the council on the adoption or revision of the members code of conduct and monitoring its operation. Cllr Learoyd, who now sits as an independent, said: “Considering the evidence [of] your willingness to be involved in skullduggery and vendetta, why should any councillor in this chamber trust that the code of conduct is being administered with any reasonableness and neutrality?”
Cllr Morgan said she had not been involved in any plotting and said in one instance given she had been merely been forwarded a conversation involving another group member for “information only”.
She confirmed she did request a brief meeting with Mr Sampson to hear “first hand of any concerns” relating to the planning committee chairmanship before a meeting with the councillor [Cllr Learoyd]. But she said: “No one has put pressure on me or asked me to remove the councillor [Cllr Learoyd] as chair.
“There has been no skullduggery, vendetta or conspiracy.”
Cllr Morgan said she believed the administration of the code of conduct process was “reasonable and neutral” and said there was also a “full audit trail”. Explaining the process, she said: “An independent person is involved from the beginning and should that person agree to the case being taken further to an assessment sub-committee, this is chaired by an independent member, alongside two other members of the governance committee who come to a majority decision.
“The views of the independent person are again taken into consideration. A principal legal officer is in attendance for advice and guidance. Code of conduct cases are [then] reported to the next governance committee meeting.”
Cllr Morgan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service sub-committee members were required to declare any potential conflicts of interest “as in all other committee meetings”. She also said a draft annual governance statement and code of governance had recently been brought to the governance committee, cabinet and full council meeting for discussion and no issues had been raised.
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