THE ongoing war of words between Independent and Labour Cllrs at Penketh Parish Council is raging on following former Mayor Linda Dirir’s bullying allegations.
Independent Cllr Christine Wych has hit back at the allegations, claiming she has herself been a victim of bullying by the controlling Labour group and that the ongoing issue about non-payment of VAT on bills on pool hires made by independent Cllr Geoff Fellows, who runs a swimming cub at the Penketh Pool, has become a “deliberate attempt to tarnish Cllr Fellows’ reputation.”
Labour has hit back describing her accusations as “absurd.”
Cllr Wych, who has experience as a bookkeeper said: “The truth is that the invoices he received from the Parish Council clearly state that they are “VAT inclusive” which means he HAS paid the VAT due on the pool hire. Since 2013 the Parish Council have failed to pay HMRC the VAT from Cllr Fellows’ payments. The Parish Council, not Cllr Fellows, now owe HMRC this money.”
She added: “Cllr Dirir has stated that female councillors have left meetings “in tears”. There are currently 4 female Penketh Parish councillors including me. I have never seen any councillor leave the meeting “in tears”. Cllr Lorraine Ashton rarely speaks at meetings or participates in discussions. I can only recall Cllr Tamarin Keane attending 3 or 4 pre-Covid meetings since I joined the council in 2018 and barely spoke except to cast her vote. Cllr Dirir takes every opportunity to remind me (at public meetings) of her 20 years experience as a councillor against my couple of years which I find very belittling.
“There have been 3 clerks in the past year. The first clerk left after many years because of the ill health of one of her family. I know the reason the second clerk left but I will not breach her confidence. It was nothing whatsoever to do with any independent councillors.”
Cllr Wych added: “The current clerk was appointed by Labour councillors without the involvement or consultation of any independent councillors. She was also appointed as the Parish Council’s Responsible Finance Officer (RFO). As far as we know she has no qualifications for either of these roles. I was unaware that she has had “panic attacks” as has been stated, but I am not surprised that she is stressed, being that she is way out of her depth in the roles of Parish Clerk and RFO, as evidenced by the recent shocking audit report of the Parish Council’s finances.
“My own experience of being bullied began in August 2019, after I started to ask questions about why a member of staff at Penketh Pool had been suspended. The pool is owned by the Parish Council and I am a member of the Pool Management Committee.
The Parish Council Chairman, Cllr David Simm, repeatedly refused to give me information and said it was a “confidential matter” yet I found out some months later that Cllr Dirir and Cllr David Keane had been copied in on all the details from day one. Each time I raised the matter of the suspension I was berated by these same 3 councillors. At one meeting, Cllr David Keane called for a motion to stop me asking questions. This was seconded by Cllr Dirir and then Cllr Simm called for a vote. It was only halted by other (independent) councillors saying they (the 3 councillors) could not do this. I am still waiting for the report on the suspension, which Cllr Simm promised in March 2020. There are still 2 outstanding complaints from pool staff dating back to 2019 and no attempt has been made by to resolve these.
“The “shocking tirade” by Cllr Fellows is nothing compared to former Chairman David Simm’s disgusting language I have heard at TWO parish council meetings, and I note the video clip of the “shocking tirade” has been heavily edited.
“Victims of bullying are not only women. I have witnessed male councillors being bullied and suffering stress as a consequence.”
Cllr Wych concluded: “The current disgraceful campaign against independent councillors, and Cllr Fellows, in particular, is a clear case of bullying. This smacks of desperation on the part of some Labour councillors and is most definitely politically motivated.”
Refuting Cllr Wych’s bullying claims a Penketh Parish Council Labour Group Spokesperson said: “There obviously needs to be more investigations to get to the bottom of any non-payment of tax that has occurred.
“The auditor to the Parish Council revealed that only one hirer of the pool had failed to pay VAT over years and requested whether there was an exemption certificate from paying VAT. Following extensive and repeat enquiries it was eventually found that the hirer did not have an exemption certificate and therefore must pay VAT on the hire, like everyone else. Several excuses were then made as to why the hirer did not pay VAT, which were all rejected by the auditor.
“The additional concern raised here is that the hirer of the council facility is a Councillor and may have had influence. Investigations continue into this matter.
“The comments here are offensive to the female Councillors in question and there is no need for disparaging remarks about all-female councillors by name. Cllr Dirir will refer to her experience infrequently to offer advice, but not as a comparison to others. The irony that Cllr Wych belittles and insults other female Councillors above in her statement in an attempt to claim she is being belittled is very odd indeed. It’s highly suggestive of internalised misogyny.
“It is absolutely true that female Cllrs have left meetings in tears and have been very upset. And its not just in meetings.
“We have had communication with both previous clerks who were excellent and we understand clearly the reasons for their departure, both experienced the same treatment from Independents that the current Clerk is going through now.
“The current clerk was appointed by the chair on a temporary basis under emergency powers, the appointment was confirmed at the next meeting of the full parish council.
“The parish council employs an accountant for these support purposes and has done so for many years, none of the previous clerks have had accountancy qualifications.
“Yet another derogatory comment from an Independent about our new Clerk who should be supported. The audit report does not refer to the period that the current clerk has been serving the council. Her panic attacks are related to her treatment during and after meeting on social media by the Independents.
“There was a serious allegation against a friend of Cllr Wych’s relating to a safeguarding issue. The friend of hers was suspended and Cllr Wych was determined to get involved despite HR advice from WBC advising against any unnecessary involvement of others.
“An Independent body led the investigation and found it necessary to suspend the individual concerned based on the evidence. According to the WBC HR advisor, all complaints have been resolved.
“Cllr Dirir and Cllr Keane had not been copied in on all details. The Chair dealt with this issue with WBC HR advice as the matter was such that management couldn’t.
“This had been raised at meetings held in public continuously by Cllr Wych. Cllrs interventions were made on the clear basis that we do not discuss staff disciplinary meetings in public meetings, there was no berating, this is libellous. Cllr Wych later admitted that she had seen all correspondence from a staff member who was a personal friend. There was much social media correspondence between Cllr Wych and the suspended staff member. An Independent body led the investigation and found it necessary to suspend the individual concerned based on the evidence. Cllr Wych is trying to undermine the process by using her power to reduce/ change the disciplinary action taken
The Labour spokesperson added: “The clip doesn’t seem to be edited at all from what is recalled from the parish meeting. Cllr Simm has apologised, paid the price and stepped down for the incident along with suffering national humiliation thanks to the Independents leaking part 2 to the National press. We would very much like to open the discussion as to how Independent Cllrs can be disciplined for behaving in a similar fashion.
“There have been ongoing campaigns to remove labour Councillors through harassment and intimidation for the past two and a half years. It is a new vicious style of politics that we respectful politicians are not used to.”
Members of the Labour group say they have also had to spend thousands of pounds on legal advice to take action against some Independent councillors and supporters to protect themselves and their families. They also say police have been called for harassment issues at their homes.
1 Comment
It seems machinations of Handforth Parish Council were a cake walk compared to the antics of Penketh PC. More importantly, what has been reported here seems to suggest those apparently representing and serving the people of Penketh, need to take a long hard look at themselves and their collective actions and ask themselves are they really serving the best interests of Penketh? Or are they giving Parish Councillors a bad name?