Does it pass the sniff test?
We take a look at recent events at Chard Town Council and suggest that some of the things that are going on do not smell nice.....
Dear readers
Today’s edition of Somerset Confidential® is for our paying subscribers.
We do see what we do as a public service, which is why we deliver much of our content free of charge. But we still have bills to pay. And as we strive to do more, we have more bills to pay. You take the point?
We think there is a lot to do. Today’s article clearly demonstrates that. If you’d like to help us do it you can do so here:
Our paid subscription service costs £30 a year. That’s 58p a week, less than the price of a cheap load of bread.
For that you get:
3 extra articles a month
The chance to have your say, to comment argue and debate our articles
full access to our back catalogue (it is getting bigger every week)
and the satisfaction of supporting one of Somerset’s most innovative journalism projects.
We like to think of it like this. Support us – and you are supporting a better governed Somerset. You can join and support us here….
Thank you
Andrew Lee - editor
Does it pass the sniff test
In the course of the past week, it has come to light that Chard Town Council does not feel it has a problem with bullying and the report into bullying (the third) commissioned by the council, was flawed and wrong.
Let us track back for a moment or two.
For some time (nearly a decade in fact) Chard Town Council has not been a happy place. Staff members have complained of bullying behaviour by a small group of councillors. That has led to an extraordinary staff turnover.
It has also resulted in enormous sums of taxpayer’s money being spent. In the last decade the taxpayers of Chard have had to fork out a total of £102,841. Money that has been paid out for investigations into bullying, recruitment costs, pay offs and throughout the period the main culprits have been allowed to operate with impunity. That was until June last year.
the taxpayers of Chard have had to fork out a total of £102,841
Since then, even more money has been spent on the same things.
Chard Town Council has tried and failed to stem the flow. No fewer than three reports into bullying have been produced. Each in turn has been well intentioned, each in turn has failed to change the behaviour of Chard Town Councillors.
The last one was by an independent consultant Chris Rolley. The fact that the report was commissioned initially by former LibDem chair of Chard Town Council, Martin Carnell, is also important. The independence of the report was critical but is now being called into question.
The Rolley Report identified three town councillors who were primarily responsible for the bullying and one of them significantly more than the other two.
The Mayor of Chard knows exactly who they are, and so do the councillors concerned. At 13 June meeting of the Town Council last year Mayor Gary Shortland told the council (in public session - and that fact is important): “I have now spoken to Chris Rolley…..I have in complete confidence been given the names of the 3 councillors identified in his report, I have in complete confidence, told the 3 councillors named that they are the people identified in the report. As all of this information is personal data. I am therefore unable to publicly give any details regarding the names given to me”
So did that put a line under things? Not a bit of it. The current clerk is leaving (the 11th clerk in just over a decade) just 9 months after being appointed, another officer has left the council already and one other staff member is being investigated following a complaint made against them by a town councillor. That investigation, Somerset Confidential® understands, will cost in the region of £5,000.
But other more sinister undertones are coming into play. The Rolley Report has been widely circulated. It was published in unredacted form by accident. It has been discussed at Chard Town Council meetings in public session several times.
In short there is nothing secret about the contents. It has also been accepted by Chard Town Council. On 29 March 2023, the council unanimously resolved: “that the Independent Report produced by Chris Rolley and recommendations contained within, be formally adopted.” The following councillors were present and voted: Cllr Baker, Cllr Bates, Cllr Brown, (Deputy Mayor), Cllr Bulmer, Cllr Crook, Cllr Eggins, Cllr Grief-Page, Cllr Richter, Cllr Shortland, Cllr Williams.
Then as we note above, the Mayor discussed the Rolley Report in public session on the 13 June 2023.
On 17 July the full council passed another resolution on the Rolley Report as follows: “That Council adopt the NALC Dignity & Respect Policy, Sign the NALC pledge, adopt the Somerset Council Code of Conduct and the 1 additional criterion stated and agree proposed training programme 2023/24 for Councillors and Officers.” This time there were 9 votes in favour and 1 against.
It would be interesting to know the name of the councillor who did not want to support the NALC Dignity and Respect Policy and did not want to adopt The Somerset Council code of conduct, but as it was not a named vote, that information has not been recorded.
So forgive the history lesson, but the point is the Rolley Report has been discussed in public session without any issue throughout 2023.
Independence
In 2024 all that changed. For two Chard Town Council meetings, one on 6 February and the other on 18 March a “review of the Rolley Report” has been in held in closed session. The reason given by the council is that the item contains personal data.
This is bizarre. It is a matter of fact that the Rolley Report itself contains no personal information. It is a matter of record that previously the Rolley Report has been discussed by the full council in public session.
the Rolley Report itself contains no personal information
So what is going on? The minutes of the 6 February are predictably unenlightening. They record simply that the council resolved: “That the Town Clerk and The Operations Manager undertake a review as to the commissioning and findings of the Rolley Report.”
That sounds a lot like an attempt to unpick the report. It is also interesting to note that according to their own website, Chard Town Council does not have an Operations Manager. Though this sort of inaccuracy is not uncommon in Chard.
More interestingly, the town clerk left the council four days after the 18 March meeting.
Presumably the reference for the job the town clerk is moving to will have been in the gift of Chard Town Councillors. We are therefore bound to ask if that reference was given by any of the three Chard Town Councillors implicated in the Rolley Report? And was that reference given before the town clerk was asked to investigate a report into his town council on 6 February, or afterwards?