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A local authority in Kent accused of failures in its handling of bullying allegations and whistleblowing complaints has tonight voted to take "urgent action" to address the scandal.
Thanet District Council (TDC) has accepted recommendations made in a damning report which last month revealed a a culture of intimidation and victimisation at the authority.
Auditor Grant Thornton, which carried out the probe, said the scandal at the top of TDC had prompted “a serious breakdown in relations” between its four most senior figures, including chief executive Madeline Homer.
It found that eight independent investigations conducted over the last two-and-a-half years by six different reviewers “identified at least two cases where they considered there to be clear evidence of bullying”.
It added that the cash-strapped council needed to make cuts to fund the rising costs of having to resolve grievances and whistle-blowing complaints involving the powerful quartet and “a number of officers”.
This is despite it having already splurged £700,000 on legal advice, and with it engaged in potentially expensive employment tribunals.
Councillors met tonight to discuss the report and to decide whether to accept four recommendations made by Grant Thornton.
The firm's head of local government, Paul Dessott, warned before the vote that "urgent action" was needed and there would be serious consequences if improvements are not made.
"If we are not satisfied with progress after a reasonable period of time we will have to consider what are the next steps, from our point of view," he said.
"The more obvious next step would be a public interest report (PIR) , and any council which has received a public interest report will say that they really don’t want to receive one.of those ever again."
PIRs - which are both rare and extremely serious - are used by external auditors to set out specific actions that must be taken when a "significant matter" of public interest is uncovered.
Grant Thornton has so far stopped short of such a measure, and in its report instead made four recommendations to TDC, which councillors accepted tonight.
They agreed to appoint an experienced independent monitoring officer from a large local authority to take an overview of the scandal, reporting back on current employment tribunal claims, the financial risks to the council, and all outstanding grievances and alleged whistleblower complaints.
A 'lessons learned" report will be produced and the business of the Investigations and Disciplinary Sub Committee will be concluded, with clear actions that are reported and monitored.
The council will also have to identify additional savings "to address the cost pressures created in resolving the grievances and whistle-blowing complaints”.
It must improve its governance by agreeing an approach that responds to the substance of any issues raised, with a clear agreement on where officer and member responsibilities lie.
Ahead of the meeting, campaigners protested outside the council officers, and the chief executive was barracked from the public gallery at points throughout the meeting with chants of "Homer out".
Councillors were warned by chairman Cllr Jason Savage (Con) at the start of the meeting not to name individuals during the debate.
Stuart Piper (Ind), during an impassioned speech, later said: "Are we, as elected members, in danger of being muzzled in response to this report?
"How are we to know that this report will be effective enough to head off a public interest report, or even court action as a worst-case scenario?
"For self-evident legal reasons we cannot identify individuals in this public forum; when, may I ask, are we going to be able to discuss these matters?"
He added: "Accountability must include responsibility for the failings and a need to hold people to account.
"We have seen the public condemnation of those responsible for the failings at Southern Water in this area in which we live, and we are now seeing public outrage at the failings in their council, here at TDC.
"We have to get this right because the public do have every right, I believe, to hold this council to account for this damning report."
Cllr Rebecca Wing (Green) said she found the report a "harrowing read", both in terms of "human suffering and the waste of financial spending we can ill afford".
She said she was shocked by the "staggering amount of council tax payer's money wasted" as a direct consequence of the scandal.
She also raised concerns that two of Grant Thorton's recommendations would fall under the remit of the council leader Ash Ashbee (Con) and chief executive Ms Homer.
"With senior officers mentioned throughout this report, is this not a conflict of interest, and are we not simply allowing the same repeated pattern of behaviour to continue?" she asked.
"How will this potential conflict of interest be safeguarded against?"
Labour group leader Rick Everitt - the former council leader - spoke of a "grotesque waste of public money", but added that the complexities of establishing how to address the issues, given policy issues and numerous conflicts of interest, added significantly to legal costs.
He concluded: "Our responsibility tonight is to support the recommendations and to take on board the findings of the external monitoring officer to ensure that we can never be in the same situation again."
Last month's damning Grant Thornton revealed that between 2019 and 2020 there was a series of linked complaints and grievances involving officers and the authority’s most senior figures – Ms Homer, operations director Gavin Waite, director of governance Tim Howes, and deputy chief executive Tim Willis, who has now left the council with an unblemished record.
The report detailed “a serious breakdown in relations” between the leading quartet and unearthed “examples of serious allegations made by senior officers without adequate, or in some cases any, supporting evidence”.
The auditor stated: “The council’s management culture has allowed the perception that attempts to raise legitimate concerns will be met by disciplinary action.
“This has been described by one independent reviewer as a ‘culture of overt bullying, intimidation, victimisation or humiliation within Thanet District Council.”
Grant Thornton reported that one review found that employees raising grievances and whistleblowing complaints, which the auditor considered to have “merit”, were “subject to disciplinary action prior to the substance of their complaints being formally considered”.
Another probe found that the behaviour of senior officers was “found to fall below the standard expected on a number of occasions, indicating a repeated pattern of behaviour by some individuals”.
Grant Thornton predicted financial “pressures that the council will be unable to meet without reducing reserves” even more.
After the company wrote to one of the authority’s committees in July to air its worries, further complaints were lodged and another employment tribunal claim has been submitted.
“[There are] escalating costs, adding to unsustainable cost pressures [and] a fragile financial position,” Grant Thornton continued.
“The position described represents a failure of governance with serious concerns about the ability of senior officers to work together in the best interest of the council.”
Cheife executive Ms Homer has faced calls to step down from her role in the wake of last month's report.
Speaking last month, GMB Union regional organiser Frank Macklin – who was in the public gallery tonight – labelled the situation appalling and said the time had come for Ms Homer to step aside.
“I have never come across anything like this in all the years I’ve been doing this job,” he explained.
“Just shy of £1 million of taxpayers’ money that could have been used to repair lifts, make the beaches more user-friendly and for housing has instead been used on solicitors.”
Despite presiding over a council mired in allegations of bullying, and with considerable amounts of public money spent on consequent legal advice, Ms Homer maintained last month that she has the support of authority staff and members to continue in her role.
In a statement sent to KentOnline, she said: “The council takes all allegations seriously and investigates them properly in accordance with both the council’s procedures and the duty we have to all staff under employment law.
“Quite rightly those procedures are not under my control and have been looked at independently. Due to the complicated nature of these issues the process has taken some time. However, I can confirm that following a thorough investigation there were no actions recommended against me.
“During this time I have successfully led the organisation through the pandemic, have the support of staff and members and continue to oversee a council that is delivering a good level of service to the residents of Thanet. Contrary to some of the public commentary, our staff, including the management team, work very well together and are incredibly supportive of each other.
“In respect of the external auditor’s report, I fully respect the role they carry out and entirely support the four recommendations they have made, but it will be for council to consider and decide on the recommendations on November 2. Like any organisation, there will be lessons for us to learn and we want to move forward on that basis and be stronger for it.”
