Why Town Cllrs Derek Giles and Gordon Thorpe should resign!

What I care about is Good Government at whatever level. To me Good Government at Town Council level is:

Making the right decisions for the right reasons.
Ensuring the Council has the right resources to implement the policies.
Failure should not be rewarded.

So what was the background?

SNTC had received 2 damning external auditors reports! Some of what was wrong was inherited from previous administrations. The Town Clerk and his team should take some of the responsibility. But who was in charge of the Town Clerk and should also take responsibility? I feel it must be the former Leader and Deputy Leader (Cllrs Giles and Thorpe).

After the 2007 Town Elections, the Liberal Democrats started bringing in much needed reforms to the Town Council. The setting up of a Policy and Resources Committee and bringing in the offices of Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council are very good reforms. These reforms don't go far enough and that is for another article.

What these reforms achieved was to bring about a proper committee to ensure Policy implementation and that Resources go with the policies. The first Chairman was Cllr Derek Giles. The first Deputy Chairman was Cllr Gordon Thorpe. Being in charge of Policy and Resources means these two were in charge of much of what went on at the Council. Cllr Giles was also leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the Town Council. Bringing in the offices of Leader and Deputy Leader in 2008 also made a clear line of authority in the Town Council.

We now have a clear line on who to commend when things go right and who to blame when things go wrong. If there are problems with Policy and/or Resources the leadership of the P and R committee can be to blame. If there are problems with the Town Council administration the Leadership of the Council is ultimately to blame.

There are many things I will not blame the leadership duo of Cllrs Giles and Thorpe. These relate to decisions of the Town Council and decisions of the Town Clerk prior to the Annual Council Meeting of 2007.

This is not a rant because things have gone wrong and someone is to blame. This is a political rant because I believe Cllrs Giles and Thorpe running of the Town Council was bad government. Failure should not be rewarded.

So what went wrong?

The 2008/09 Budget was found to be wrong. This casino budget was under the auspices of the P and R Committee and much of the detail needed to be agreed with the leadership of this Committee.

The 2009/10 Budget never went to the P and R Committee for review and discussion. Giles and Thorpe were in charge of this committee and failed to have this budget discussed. This is wrong and is bad government.

The P and R Committee is supposed to "scrutinise the budget performance during the council year". During 2008/09 it didn't. Giles and Thorpe were in charge of this committee. This is wrong and is bad government.

The P and R Committee was supposed to "review the effectiveness of the work of the whole Council and the standards and levels of service provided". Cllrs Giles and Thorpe didn't do this.

The P and R Committee was supposed to "monitor and review the Council’s organisation and management processes and to recommend to Council such changes as the Committee considers appropriate". Again Cllrs Giles and Thorpe failed to do this.

The P and R Committee was supposed "to oversee the production of the Annual Report and other statutory plans and policies". Again Cllrs Giles and Thorpe failed to do this.

The P and R Committee was supposed to "monitor and review the management of the Council's assets, the financial health of the Council, expenditure against budget allocations including the total level of expenditure of the Council, and reporting to Council as necessary". Again Cllrs Giles and Thorpe failed to do this.

The P and R Committee was supposed to: "advise the Council generally as to its financial and economic policies and as to the allocation and control of its financial resources". FAILED
To make recommendations to Council on:-
a) the annual estimates of revenue and capital expenditure FAILED
b) all proposals relating to the setting of the Council tax precept FAILED
c) the setting of fees and charges for Council services FAILED
d) the management of the CounciI’s finances and the budgetary framework and processes. FAILED

Again Cllrs Giles and Thorpe failed to do this.

I argue that when Cllrs Giles and Thorpe, as Leader and Deputy Leader, found out about the problems with the accounts, budget and administration the whole mess should have been brought to council and an action plan hammered out. This didn't happen. This is a massive failure and an effective cover up of the massive problems.

I further argue that when Cllrs Giles and Thorpe, as Chairman and Deputy Charman of the P and R Committee, found out about the problems with the accounts, budget and administration they must have brought these problems before their committee. They didn't. In fact the number of meetings were cut and and the P and R Committee didn't do its finance functions. This is wrong and is bad Government.

Further, when the annual report and accounts for 2007/08 were not presented to the Town Council before the legal deadline this was a failure by Cllrs Giles and Thorpe not only as Leader and Deputy Leader of Council but also Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Policy and Resources Committee.

I could go on about the Forward Plan, ECC and much else. But I'll stop here for now.

Under the leadership of Cllrs Giles and Thorpe the Town Council ended up with 2 damning reports from the external auditors. It is not as though these Councillors didn't know what they were doing! Cllr Thorpe is still a serving District Councillor and Cllr Giles was a District Councillor until 2008.

Why include Cllr Gordon Thorpe. He was only the Deputy? Yes he was. As Deputy Leader he should have known what was going on. As he would need to step in an do the job of the Leader if Cllr Giles couldn't fulfill his duties. He should have been told what was going on and should have insisted these problems were brought to Town Council. If he didn't know then he should have known.

Then again, Thorpe is now Town Mayor. So failure has been rewarded by the Liberal Democrats!

Why they should both resign as Town Councillors?

The main reasons are:
These Leaders failed miserably through both their actions and in-actions to ensure the financial viability of the Town Council.
They also failed in the good conduct of the Town Council as measured against the Town Councils' own constitution.

If Cllrs Giles and Thorpe had resigned as Town Councillors this would have drawn a line under the mess the Town Council found itself in. Instead we have a tainted Town Council which has both Cllr Giles and Thorpe still very much involved in the decision making process. Whilst the new leadership wants to draw a line after these reports, whilst Cllrs Giles and Thorpe continue to serve they will continue to draw questions and controversy.
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Below are links to documents.

Policy and Resources - Terms of Reference
Standing Order 65 - Council Leader