Appointment to
conduct investigations into Council processes and the conduct of an individual
Councillor
I am writing to
confirm that you have been appointed by the Council to conduct two separate but
closely related investigations following the sad death of former Councillor
Tayo Oladapo who was a member of the Council’s Labour Group.
Former Councillor
Oladapo died at the Royal Free Hospital in the Borough of Brent on 29 January
2016 following a long illness.
For a long period of
time prior to his death, former Councillor Oladapo was unable to attend any
meetings of the Council and was therefore at risk of automatic
disqualification. According to the Local Government Act 1972, if a member of a
local authority fails throughout a period of 6 consecutive months from the date
of his last attendance to attend any meeting of the authority then, subject to
certain exceptions, he ceases to be a member of the authority unless the
failure was due to some reason approved by the authority before the expiry of
that period.
Former Councillor
Oladapo was elected in May 2010 and last attended a Council meeting on 26
November 2014. Since then his absence from meetings of the Council was approved
by Full Council on 2 March 2015; 20 May 2015; 7 September 2015; 18 January 2016
and 22 February 2016. Copies of the public reports considered at these meetings
of Full Council are available on the Council’s website.
Following enquiries
made by the Council’s Chief Executive, Carolyn Downs, on 10 March 2016, the
Police notified the Council that former Councillor Oladapo had died on 29
January 2016 but that his death had not been registered. A copy of Ms Downs’
statement presented to the annual meeting of Full Council on 18 May 2016 is
attached hereto.
In the
circumstances, the Council recognises that the reporting of former Councillor
Oladapo’s absence to Full Council and the approval of his absence raises issues
which warrant review in the public interest. It is the Council’s objective to
ensure that its processes are independently reviewed; the facts, as known and
understood by the Council, and indeed the actual facts are formally reported;
that any lessons are learned and that any improvements are implemented.
Against that factual
background, you are requested to review/investigate the following:
1. The events
leading up to the meeting of Full Council on 22 February 2016 concerning former
Councillor Oladapo’s illness and continued absence from Council meetings;
2. The
information and facts known and understood by key officers and members of the
Council throughout the relevant period and how this was formally reported at
meetings of Full Council;
3. Whether
further or better information could reasonably have been obtained about former
Councillor Oladapo prior to the meeting of Full Council on 22 February 2016;
4. The
Council’s general processes for reporting former Councillor Oladapo’s illness
and continued absence from Council meetings;
5. What, if
anything, the Council could have done differently or better at the time;
6.. What, if
any, lessons the Council should take from this experience; and
7.. What, if
any, improvements the Council should implement.
You are also
requested to make any other recommendations that you consider appropriate and
prepare a written report to the Chief Executive within a timescale of 2 to 3
weeks.
Arising from these
same circumstances, on 13 May 2016, in my capacity as Monitoring Officer, I
received a Members’ Code of Conduct complaint about the conduct of Councillor
Muhammed Butt. Councillor Butt is the Leader of the Council and Leader of the
majority Labour Group.
In broad terms, it
is alleged that Councillor Butt apparently misled the Council over the death of
former Councillor Oladapo. A copy of the full complaint is attached hereto and
you are asked to investigate the following issues and prepare a separate
standards investigation report which will be considered by the Council’s
Standards Committee. You are asked to consider the contents of the email which
is referenced in the complaint and address each allegation, save those which
relate to the employment relationship between the then Labour Party official
and the Labour party.
In your standards
investigation report you are asked to make findings on the following:
1. Whether or not
Councillor Butt was acting in an official capacity and whether the alleged
conduct was capable of falling within the scope of the Members’ Code of
Conduct.
2. Whether or not
Councillor Butt breached the requirements or obligations of the Members’ Code
of Conduct. If so, specify which paragraphs of the Code you find have been
breached.
3. If applicable,
the action that you recommend the Council should take in response to any
finding of breach.
I also attach a copy
of the Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct and associated complaints procedure
which you will need to consider carefully before preparing your standards
investigation report. The expected timescale for this report is 4 to 5 weeks.
Inevitably, the
terms of your general review will overlap with the standards investigation into
the conduct of Councillor Butt and therefore your two reports are bound to
contain much of the same information. As no doubt you will appreciate, however,
they are intended to serve distinct purposes and will be reported accordingly.
I would suggest that
your enquiries should extend in total to approximately 5 working days. If, in
your assessment, a greater amount of time is needed, I would ask that you
contact
The opportunity to
interview and make enquiries of the officers and Members you consider are
relevant to your review and investigation will be given to you.
It is suggested that
in order to pursue the enquiries listed above you will need to interview the
following officers:
Carolyn Downs, Chief
Executive
