Unlawful Interference

Will Lofthouse and Fiaz be Called to Account?

Our archival gnomes have been at it again. The statutory guidance relating to the relationship between the mayor and executive and the overview and scrutiny functions is clear. (see 11.c.)

In particular, “The executive should not try to exercise control over the work of the scrutiny committee. This could be direct, e.g. by purporting to ‘order’ scrutiny to look at, or not look at, certain issues, or indirect, e.g. through the use of the whip or as a tool of political patronage, and the committee itself should remember its statutory purpose when carrying out its work.

All members and officers should consider the role the scrutiny committee plays to be that of a ‘critical friend’ not a de facto ‘opposition’. Scrutiny chairs have a particular role to play in establishing the profile and nature of their committee”.

As reported in our article about Control Freakery, the Assistant Whip is alleged to have sought to exercise influence over the OSC at the behest of the Mayor in order to secure an endorsement of the Leader and Committee model to replace the Mayoral system.

This was not only wrong but illegal.

It is not a question for the Standards Board. This is a matter that needs to be raised with the section 151 Officer for investigation, pending prosecution. Two people clearly have a case to answer, Cllr Jane Lofthouse and Mayor Fiaz.

Cllr McAlmont has shown that he lacks the stones to protect the scrutiny function. Will the members of the Labour Group rise to the challenge? Or will they continue in their supine obedience of the Mayor and the Deputy Whip?

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