What Brent's Chief Executive said about the death of Cllr Oladapo

Following a series of comments on the blog on the situation regarding the death of Cllr Tayo Oladapo  I reprint below an article I posted on April 28th  LINK which first made public the doubts about the Council's announcement.  After publication I was contacted by insiders alleging that the delay was an attempt to put off the by-election.  I could not find any evidence for this and at the same time could not see how a by-election delay would be of political benefit to Muhammed Butt. I also thought that such an action would have been so beyond the pale as to be unbelievable.

This is what I wrote to Carolyn Downs, Brent CEO:

I have been contacted by a number of people who expressed concern that the true picture regarding the death of Cllr Oladapo has not been given by Brent Council.

The claims are:

1. Cllr Oladapo actually died in January 2016 (January 29th has been given as the date).
2. That almost a month later Full Council on 22nd February agreed to approve his continued absence from meetings on the grounds of ill health.
3. That his death was not publicly announced  by the Council until March 11th
4. That his body is still in a morgue.

2 and 3 are a matter of public record.

Could you confirm the facts and explain the misinformation of February 22nd and the delay in the death announcement. In particular what checks had been carried out by officers/Brent Council with the hospital or Cllr Oladapo's family before seeking approval for continued absence on 22nd February?

 I recognise that there may be family reasons for 4.

Many thanks,

Martin Francis, Wembley Matters

This is Ms Down's response:

 Dear Mr Francis,

Thank you for your email.

In response to the point you have raised:

1. I have not received any formal documentation to confirm the death of Cllr Oladapo but understand that he died in late January.

2. The report which went to the Full Council meeting on 22nd February was drafted as the Full Council report which went in January 2016 stated that Councillor Oladapo's absence would be reviewed at Full Council in February if required. We believed Councillor Oladapo to be alive as we had not been informed of his death and therefore required a further exemption on this basis.

3.  I can confirm that Cllr Oladapo's death was announced by the council on 11th March which was as soon as I had been able to obtain certainty as to Councillor Oladapo's state of health.

4. The arrangements in relation to Cllr Oladapo's remains are a matter for his family as you suggest and I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on this.

Kind regards,

Carolyn Downs