The situation at Lib Dem ran Guildford Borough Council goes from bad to worse. As the Police investigation into an £18.5 million overspend and possible fraud into the Council's Housing Revenue Account team continues, two members of the Guildford Borough Council (GBC) Senior Leadership Team have resigned.
Ian Doyle, Director of Transformation and Governance, and Annie Righton, Director of Community and Wellbeing, who was only appointed three weeks ago on an interim basis, have “agreed to step back on a temporary basis from their respective roles to protect the integrity of the investigation”.
Mr Doyle and Ms Righton were both senior officers at GBC, responsible for the housing maintenance service area, at the time the contracts now being investigated for fraud were handed out.
Commenting on the situation, Angela Richardson, Guildford's Member of Parliament, said:
"Officers, including one who stepped in as interim Chief Exec, have yesterday stepped back from duties as part of the ongoing police investigation into a fraud inquiry of £16m overspend at Guildford Borough Council, which has now been escalated by the local police to a regional fraud division.
"Questions for Guildford residents:
"Why are Officers of the Council being hung out to dry by the Lib Dem political leadership? Who signs everything off? The political leadership if it's working properly should have full oversight.
"Show me political leadership and accountability in all of this. Where is it?
"Officers advise and politicians decide. Politicians are the people ultimately accountable to residents through the ballot box. Why are the Liberal Democrats hiding behind Officers?
"Why does the Lib Dem leader of Guildford Borough Council continually duck scrutiny and refuse to be interviewed by the Guildford Dragon, yet puts out press release professing to be open and transparent? This is the biggest load of bollocks local residents have had to endure.
"Nolan Principles of Public Life do not appear to exist in the Guildford Lib Dems, yet Lib Dems are the first to get on their soap boxes and moan about everyone else and ask for their resignation (see Sir Ed Davey, late of Horizon debacle and sub-postmaters scandal yet happy to receive a pay packet of nearly £300k from the law firm acting for the Post Office). What a disgrace!
"On the doors of Guildford this afternoon, a former GBC employee had this to say: "When the Conservatives ran the council they had a tight grip, I read the Guildford Dragon article (shared below) and what is happening now under the Lib Dems in Guildford is shocking and unbelievable"
"Guildford deserves better! The Lib Dem Leader at GBC should do the honourable thing and resign. It's her portfolio where the alleged fraud has taken place within the Housing Revenue Account."
Local authority public bodies need to be committed to openness, transparency and accountability for decision making and public money expenditure.
The current Lib Dem administration at Surrey Heath Borough Council are sadly also seemingly to fall from these expected standards, with the same patterns of consulting residents, then ignoring their responses. This was recently demonstrated with the public consultation and e-petition on their Car Parking Strategy overwhelming being against increasing car parking charges, yet implementing such regardless after branding the petition from local residents as "redundant".
Jeremy Hunt MP stated:
"In my constituency Lib Dem run Waverley BC still progresses the merger with Lib Dem run Guildford council; now mired deep in these serious fraud allegations. Yesterday, Waverley residents lost an Interim CEO and yet another Joint Executive Head; both have been put on gardening leave.
"Terrible news for Guildford residents and for Waverley residents."
