Evening Standard alleges Cllr Butt concealed Tayo Oladapo's death to avoid by-election

The London Evening Standard LINK today said that it had seen e-mails that showed  a 'former Labour staffer' had been told to conceal Cllr Oladapo''s death because Cllr Butt did not want a by-election in Kilburn.  The article quotes 'Labour insiders' as saying Butt did not want a by-election in case an 'unsupportive' candidate was elected affecting his chances in the leadership election.

Cllr Michael Pavey, who is contesting the leadership, has called for a full investigation into these 'very serious allegations'.

The Kilburn Times has published a story on the Standard story which includes comment by Muhammed Butt and Cllr John Duffy LINK

Helga Gladbaum pays tribute to Tayo Oladapo

Helga Gladbaum has asked me to publish this Guest Blog

 

Tribute to the late Cllr. Tayo Oladapo

I am dismayed that the late Councillor Tayo Oladapo, representing the Labour Party in Kilburn ward for six years and who died at an early age at the end of January of this year has still not been given a decent burial nor a mention in any local publication.

I therefore would like to give my own tribute to Tayo. He was elected to be a Labour councillor in 2010 and he was one of much younger councillors at the time.

Tayo was a member of the Education Scrutiny committee which I chaired for a number of years. He always attended the meetings of that committee and would walk over to me at the end of the meetings to talk about education and other matters. He was very respectful and I had great hopes that he would eventually make an important contribution to the work of the Council.

I remember a number of Brent councillors passing away over the years, notably Cllr. Paul Daisley, leader of Brent Council and MP for Brent Central, Cllr. Reg Freeson, MP for Brent Central for many years and Cllr. Tom Taylor, chair of education for a number of years and leader of the Conservative group. They and others were always honoured for their contribution to the political life of Brent.

I fail to understand why these long-standing traditions have been broken in the case of the late Cllr. Tayo Oladapo. I will remember you, Tayo.

Helga Gladbaum

Councillor for Harlesden ward 2010 to 2014

Update regarding Cllr Tayo Oladapo

Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, has sent the following message to Brent Labour  councillors regarding the funeral arrangements for Cllr Tayo Oladapo who died in January. See 'Brent Labour Group should do the decent thing for an ex-colleague' LINK and 'Brent Council clarifies communication issues over the death of Cllr Tayo Oladapo' LINK

Hi

Just wanted to give you a quick update about what’s happening with Tayo and his family.

His family has applied for their Visas to come to the UK, but sadly the application has been refused and they are looking to appeal the decision.

They will be sending me the details of the refusal and I will be in touch with Dawns office to see how we can help them to get their Visa.

I will do whatever I can do to assist; we may as a group need to consider how to make the arrangements for the funeral if the family wishes us to do so, which is highly likely considering the circumstances.

We also need to consider placing a memory vine leaf in the Civic centre gardens for Tayo after his funeral. We can also place a memory leaf for Dan Filson after the plaque has been unveiled next week.

Kind Regards

Muhammed

Brent Council clarifies communication issues over the death of Cllr Tayo Oladapo

I have had a number of messages and phone calls regarding Council communications about the death of Cllr Tayo Oladapo (Kilburn ward). The central concern is that Full Council voted to approve his continued absence from ill-health when he had been dead for several weeks.

His death was not announced by Brent Council until March 11th, more than 5 weeks later. LINK

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

Although Carolyn Downs does not fully answer my question about checks carried out by Council officers ahead of the motion to approve continued absence, another source advises that Cllr Oladapo had reduced the number of visitors he received, not unusual in the seriously ill, and that the Royal Free Hospital had cited patient confidentiality when information was sought from outside the family.

Kilburn councillor Tayo Oladapo has died after long illness

Brent Council posted this sad news today. I would like to pass on my sympathy to  Tayo's family, friends and colleagues
 
Councillor Tayo Oladapo, Labour Councillor for Kilburn, has sadly died after struggling with ill health for some time.

He had represented Kilburn ward since 2010.

Born in March 1981, Tayo was a young man who was keen to improve the lives of those he represented. He was first elected to Brent Council in May 2010 and served on various committees.
These included the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Committee 2010 to 2013, Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2010 to 2011 and more recently Scrutiny from 2014 to 2015.

Cllr Lesley Jones MBE, Mayor of Brent, has led tributes to Cllr Oladapo. She said: "Tayo was respected and liked across the political spectrum and I offer my deepest sympathy to his friends and family at this difficult time."

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council, added: "Tayo had been struggling with ill health for sometime but the treatment he was receiving appeared to be working earlier in the year which makes this latest news even more tragic. 

"He was a man of great integrity and represented the people of Kilburn with great dedication. He will be sorely missed."

The council is contacting the family to understand what plans they have for funeral arrangements.

Once this is understood, the Returning Officer will consider the most appropriate date for a by-election which will be announced in due course.

The flags at the council headquarters are flying at half-mast today (11 March 2016).