A report into bullying at Richmondshire DC has been declared ‘null and void’ by councillors.
The report, released last year by independent investigator Richard Penn, accused five councillors at the north Yorkshire council of ‘bullying and harassment and breaching the officer’s contractual entitlement’ (The MJ, 4 May 2006).
A later Standards Board investigation cleared the officers of the allegations, but a council spokeswoman said the two issues had become muddied.
‘The Penn report came first looking at the council and the issues of bullying, the second Standards Board report was looking at whether the code of conduct had been breached,’ she explained.
‘The thinking seems to be that the councillors were exonerated by the Standards Board, so they are not focusing on the Penn Report. They are looking at the same thing but from a different point of view and so the boundaries are blurred.’
Cllr Linda Curran proposed the motion to declare the conclusions of the Penn Report null and void reportedly in a bid to draw a line under what had gone on in the past and to take the council forward.
The motion was proposed at a council meeting on 27 February a week after The MJ reported that the chief executive Harry Tabiner and four senior colleagues were taking early retirement after agreeing not to make any claims against the council (The MJ, 23 February 2006).
The early retirements, which take effect on 1 April, will according to the council make way for a new streamlined senior management structure.
An external acting chief executive and head of paid services is due to be appointed.
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