Thank you to everyone who sent questions for me to submit to Hemsworth Town Council, prior to the extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday 12 October 2021. The Clerk has confirmed he has received them.
Can I please request that anyone who attends the meeting does not attack or name any individual staff member or make unproven accusations against anyone?
If you do so, you are giving Mr Jim Kenyon – Chair Hemsworth Town Council the opportunity to close the meeting without answering any of the questions asked of him.
See you at 7….
Very true ferret, and people need to be aware he will plant stooges in the audience who will be called on by him to ask questions that will divert from the real issues, to prevent legitimate questions being asked and answered (some hope of that) and to diliberately distrupt the meeting so he can close it when things get too hot for his comfort. Lets not forget this man was elected on a manifesto of lies, if he can’t or won’t produce verifyable certificates to prove his so called claimed qualifications he should resign on the spot. He should already have resigned when the frenkel report proved his allegations against the last council to be false. That says it all, he’s been court out as a liar repeatedly already, he should go and needs to go.
Unfortunately the consequences of anyone in office who breaks manifesto promises are less than an hours detention after school, writing “I must do better” 500 times!
At least Boris admitted to breaking his promise with regards National Insurance whereas Cllr Kenyon hasn’t mentioned his £200,000 precept reduction promise – (which he couldn’t actually deliver as a lone Councillor anyway, as it would be a whole Council decision).
It also appears that the consequences of breaching the Code of Conduct (ie the sanctions available to the Monitoring Officer) are extremely limited and do not extend to a dismissal.
So, the only way to remove him from office is, as I understand it:
a) when he’s next up for re-election
b) if he breaks the law
c) if other Councillors succeed in a vote of no confidence
So, it’s a criminal offence for a Councillor not to declare an interest in a decision which then leads to personal gain, and the police should be involved.
It is also a breach of the Localism Act for any decisions to be taken outside of a properly convened council meeting (whether minuted or not).
In addition, overspending against any budget provision (without the council’s minuted approval) is another breach of the Act.
Also, Councillors must NOT involve themselves with the day to day management of Council affairs eg no site visits, no management of staff, no using council resources for personal use (apart from Office provisions).
On a much wider aspect, as a collective council, they must adhere to the Equality Act 2010, including their Public Sector duties.
This means understanding and representing the needs and wishes of everyone in the Town as well as considering equality in all decision making – and doing so transparently.
As our Council Leader, the accountability rest with Cllr Kenyon.
I’m no expert so have probably missed out quite a lot, which I’m sure the Ferret is aware of.
Maybe it’s time to collate the Freedom of Information requests?
Can you ask them if they’ve put any weight on since being elected?
I feel that every question that is asked their response will be “it’s on Thursday agenda for discussion” mark my words. Nothing will get answered on Tuesday
I fully expect the same. I believe all questions submitted should also be answered in writing – unless they have something to hide? If they refuse to answer our questions then the only alternative is for them to be submitted as a F.O.I to Mr Draper.
I have emailed the clerk to ask if this will be the case.
They’ve definitely gained weight from the shoulders up and it’s not extra brains