Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

It was proposed by Cllr Bill Trite and seconded by Cllr Richard Biggs

Decision

That Cllr Bill Pipe be elected Chairman.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the Sub-Committee’s terms of reference:-

Audit and Governance (Hearing) Sub-Committees for the consideration of Code of Conduct Issues

(a)          The Audit and Governance Committee shall arrange that, to the extent it is called upon to determine any allegation relating to a Member Code of Code (including that of a Town Council or a Parish Council), the determination shall be made by a Sub-Committee of the Audit and Governance Committee.  An Audit and Governance Sub-Committee with such responsibility may include non-Members.  An Audit and Governance Sub-Committee that has non-Members forming part of it shall not have any power relating to the regulation and/or control of the finances of the Council.

(b)          Substitutes may only be appointed to an Audit and Governance Sub-Committee from the membership of the Audit and Governance Committee.  There shall be no power to appoint non Member substitutes.

The terms of reference were noted.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972.  The reason for urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no items of urgent business.

To move the exclusion of press and the public for the following items in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 1 of schedule 12A to the Local government act 1972 (as amended).

The Chairman of the Sub-committee asked if there were any objections to the meeting being held in public, as there were none the meetings was held in open session.

The Presenting Officer introduced a complaint made by Cllr K Tippins against Cllr A Hollingshead and Cllr A Chase (Shaftesbury Town Council) in relation to a press and media statement issued by Cllr Hollingshead (Mayor at the time) and Cllr Chase (Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Staffing Committee at the time) on 15^th December 2021.  The circumstances of the case being the resignation of the former Town Clerk and the public statement to local media outlets that Cllr K Tippins was responsible for the resignation after a relentless and vindictive campaign of bullying since 2019.

The Presenting Officer, Ms J Andrews explained that as she did not undertake the investigation, her role in respect of the complaint was merely to present Mr Greene’s report and that she would be unable to answer any questions in respect of why certain documents were included in the pack or what Mr R Greene meant when writing certain statements.  Mr Greene had retired and was no longer an officer of Dorset Council. 

On 24^th December 2021, a complaint was received from Shaftesbury Town Councillor K Tippins, in respect of Shaftesbury Town Councillors Andrew Hollingshead and Alex Chase.  The complaint related to a joint press statement issued by Cllrs Hollingshead and Chase on 15^th December 2021 following the resignation of the Town Clerk.  The statement, available in full as part of Mr R Greene’s pack, stated “…. as citizens, it is only right that you also know why Claire is leaving. This is because of a relentless and vindictive campaign of bullying by Councillor Karen Tippins, which is a matter of public record.  At the Dorset Council Audit and Governance (Hearing) Sub-Committee of the 20^th September 2021 the panel unanimously agreed that her behaviour "amounted to bullying and harassment over a period of time".”

A number of documents were presented as part of the agenda prepared by Mr R Greene some of which had been provided by the parties to this complaint.  As the statement and press release of Cllr Hollingshead and Cllr Chase referred to the earlier complaint against Cllr K Tippins which concluded at the Sub-committee on 20^th September 2021, the complaints and outcome were included in the report bundle for information.  However, the outcome of the Sub-Committee on 20^th September 2021 was not included for further discussion but merely to reference the findings of that Audit & Governance Sub-Committee as referred to in the press statement issued by Cllrs Hollingshead and Chase.

The Presenting Officer explained that it was important to focus on the nature of the complaint i.e., the complaint made by Cllr K Tippins regarding the press statement issued by Cllrs A Hollingshead and A Chase and advised the members the Sub-committee not to be distracted by previous code of conduct hearings or other issues raised in correspondence with Mr R Greene.  Many matters had been dealt with including the earlier Sub-Committee in September 2021, and it was not for members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.