UPDATE (30/7/21): Tory-Run County Council and Nunney Parish Council APPROVE MORE QUARRIES! We Join Residents Who Say No

Standing Up For Residents

UPDATE (30/7/21): Incredibly, the Conservative Party-led County Council has APPROVED the re-opening of Bartletts Quarry in Nunney. But in January 2021, they had refused it!

What a spectacular u-turn involving Conservative Party Councillor Philip Ham. Yes, the same Councillor Ham involved in the highly controversial Sandys Hill Lane development, also near Frome. 

Shepton Mallet County Councillor John Parham, also a Conservative, chairs the Council's Regulation Committee that approved the re-opening of the quarry.

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UPDATE (2/7/21):  In its investigation of what local councillors have done to try to stop the Westdown Quarry from being re-opened, Somerset Independent has discovered that nearby Nunney Parish Council APPROVED the application, instead of listening to local residents who have objected. 

We are investigating:

1. how this could have happened,
2. why three parish councillors were absent from the meeting
3. why a recorded vote was called for prior to the approval of the applications
   

An extract from the minutes of the Parish Council are below:

In case,you can't read it, it reads:

"Cllr Ramsay asked for a recorded vote. Those in favour of approval Cllrs Russell, Walford, Barrett and Ramsay. Those for refusal Clegg."

Presumably Cllr Russell means Cllr Sadler.

Somerset Independents will be contacting these councillors to ask them why they voted this way, and whether there were any interests that they should have declared. No interests were declared by any councillor, as you can see in the further extract below.

Yes, three parish councillors were absent when these vital planning applications were considered:

The parish councillors absent were Councillors Francis Hayden (also Mendip District Councillor for Nunney, Cranmore and Doulting, and the same councillor who didn't pay his council tax for at least ten months, as we investigated and reported on this website), Pia McGee and Ron Warwick.

To say again, the approval for re-opening was voted on by councillors with four in favour and one against. If these councillors had been present, it could have been a tied vote.

Quite why Cllr Ramsay asked for a recorded vote is interesting. Also interesting is that two people from Hanson's were there.

---

Residents say the proposed re-opening of Westdown Quarry, near Nunney, is a quarry too far.

It is a quarry that is quarrelsome. Residents are objecting to the proposals.

We have listened to the complaints from residents about the trucks on our roads and their impact on road safety on inadequate roads.

We have listened to the complaints from residents about the impact on the environment, on wildlife and on residents' lifestyles.

Somerset already has big problems with too much quarrying, with the impacts felt across the County and also over the border in Wiltshire. For example, the Maiden Bradley Weightwatchers have been campaigning in their area for residents there. But the problems impact on such a wide area, with so many quarries.

There seems to be a rush to get permissions to quarry.

Somerset Independents listens to residents and we act with residents on the issues that matter to them.

So our Officer Denise Wyatt put together the following objection to the application. It is an objection on behalf of residents that has been submitted to Somerset County Council.

Tell us what you think about the plans.

"Residents group Somerset Independents strongly objects to applications:
SCC/3795/2021, SCC/3836/2021, SCC/3837/2021, SCC/3838/2021

Our Objection is the same for all four applications and is attached in this document.

1.
Traffic
The increase use HGVs on undesignated roads is a continuing problem.
We support Maiden Bradley Weightwatchers objections:
“The B3092 is routinely used by Hansons and other business partners in
the quarry and construction industry as a ‘short-cut’. Convoys of HGVs
are blight on the well-being of our community. Our goal is to enforce
the Weight Limit agreed in 2011 for the B3092 and for HGV traffic to
use the designated strategic freight routes”
Somerset’s roads are full of these trucks. Many of the roads are totally inadequate
and the driving is atrocious. The negative impact on road safety continues.
There is also a lack of information on tonnage to be moved which the
developer claims will not require any additional vehicle movements.
Their claims are not credible. Neither are the claims about rail use credible.
2.
The Environment
The effects on the wildlife particularly Asham Wood which is an SSSI
is totally unacceptable.
National England also advised that “It is not clear that sufficient
consideration has been given to the risk to bats”
The increase in noise and dust has been insufficiently addressed by
the developer.
The overall effects on the water table have not been demonstrated.
Many properties in the area also have a private water system. The
effects of this development have not addressed the water supply to
local communities.
3.
County Council Policy
The County Council policy SMP3 requires evidence of clear economic
benefit to the local and/or wider communities and, that appropriate
mitigation measures are in place to ensure that any
adverse impacts to local communities and the environment are at
acceptable levels.
The County Council Regulations Committee on the 14th January 2021
RESOLVED: “that both Application No. SCC/3742/2020 and Application
No. SCC/3748/2020 be REFUSED as the applicant had provided
insufficient evidence that the benefit of the removal of restrictions
to allow Bartlett’s Quarry and Torr Works Quarry to operate in tandem,
would outweigh the harmful cumulative effects on local communities and 

environment from their concurrent working.”
4.
Refused
The County Council have already made their decision very clear, that
the adverse cumulative impacts of even more quarrying will be harmful
to the local communities and the environment.
Therefore like the recent previous application, these 4 applications must be REFUSED."

UPDATE (30/7/21): Councillors Fail To Act On Failing Somerset Waste Partnership's Bins and Recycling

 

We've Been Holding The SWP To Account

UPDATE (30/7/21): The councillors who are Chair and Vice Chair of the Somerset Waste Board are out of touch. They are Lib Dem Councillor Sarah Dyke and Conservative Councillor Clare Paul respectively. 

These councillors are supposed to manage the contract for waste. But Somerset Independents has been contacted by many residents who are unhappy with the failures of these councillors to get results.

Cllr Dyke and Cllr Paul told Somerset Independents this week, when we put them on the spot: 

"As Chair and Vice Chair we are updated regularly and are satisfied that the partnership is doing everything it can to make sure the contractor delivers, whilst acknowledging the difficult circumstances that everyone is working in." 

WHO ARE THEY TRYING TO KID?

Somerset's residents won't be fooled by this latest denial of the facts:

• bins not collected across wide areas of Somerset
  
• recycling not collected across wide areas of Somerset
• problems with the treatment of current and former workers
• problems with recruiting and retaining workers

Workers and residents are being let down by these councillors, who let the contract and fail to manage the contract.

Contact Somerset Independents and tell us about why you think that these councillors should be replaced with other councillors who get the job done and the basics done in Somerset's council services.

---

Every day, Somerset Independents is hearing about more problems with the bins and recycling in Somerset.

Residents have contacted us.

Workers have contacted us.

We've taken action, as on this article here and previous articles that we've published. 

Because councillors are not getting things sorted, we've gone directly to the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP). 

And we are holding councillors to account because it was councillors who signed the contract in the first place.

Councillors should be looking at penalty clauses and the termination of the contract.

So in the absence of action from councillors, we've challenged the SWP directly.

When we contacted the SWP, they deleted our Facebook post on their Facebook page (see below - the post is above and they deleted it as shown below).

After the SWP Deleted Our Post

Residents have told us that they have been treated in the same way. They've been ignored, belittled or insulted by the PR people at the Somerset Waste Partnership.

There is a name that crops up most often, with initials NC, who multiple residents have described to us as "rude" and worse.

For example, one resident told us yesterday:

"Recycle More has now started in South Somerset today. Yet there are many people on Facebook who say they have yet to receive their blue bag. And the answer they are being given is to go on online and order your own. Just another example of the poor service from this unaccountable quango."

Here is the latest PR spin that the SWP sent to us when we challenged them directly on the issues that residents and workers raised with us:

"Somerset Waste Partnership is accountable to the five councils of Somerset that are elected by local residents, with a governing board of 10 members appointed by those councils.

 

"The new Recycle More service is cutting waste and helping Mendip residents recycle around an extra 100 tonnes a week.

 

"Crews are collected for work to maintain Covid safety. Agency staff may find that demand for their time varies, and the person mentioned should contact their agency again about work with our contractor. There are no zero-hours contracts among our contractor's employees.

 

"Anonymous complaints with no details of what happened - such as the location or date - are very difficult to investigate, which in turn makes taking action to address any issues raised far harder.

 

"We would like to apologise to the person involved for any upset or inconvenience. We invite that person to contact us so we can both apologise directly and investigate their complaint in a way that maintains their anonymity while ensuring that the correct action is taken.

 

"We and our contractor are working hard to deal with the problems created by the national and local LGV driver shortage. We have apologised to residents for the situation, been clear that there is no quick fix, and fully appreciate their patience at such a difficult time."

Reacting to the SWP's PR, Leader of Somerset Independents Andrew Pope says:

Andrew Pope

 

"Who are they trying to kid? Instead of addressing the poor service, poor recruitment and retention and poor communication with residents, the SWP employ an army of PR people to try to 'manage communities' in this continuing disaster of a contract.

I will be chasing councillors again, to get these issues addressed urgently.

If councillors do not get it sorted, then the councillors that made the decisions on this disastrous contract should be held to account and removed from elected office.

Councillors should be looking at penalty clauses and the termination of the contract.

And consideration should be made of the contract being terminated."

We will continue to challenge the SWP and the councillors who are SUPPOSED to hold them to account.

Get in touch at the contact details here to let us know what you think should be done.

Somerset's Lack of Democracy - Councillor Removed for Not Turning Up After Not Paying His Council Tax Either!

 

Former Councillor Paul Bolton

UPDATE (21/3/22): FINALLY! Somerset West and Taunton have told us why Paul Bolton is no longer a councillor - because he was removed for non-attendance.

But it took over two months for the Council to tell us. They've apologised, saying it was an "oversight" by officers.

The by-election had long gone by the time they bothered to let us know. We chased on more than one occasion.

They told us today:

"This was the response from the Deputy Monitoring Officer:-

 

Apologies for the delay in responding to your query. The vacancy in the Alcombe Ward arose due to the former Councillor’s failure throughout a period of six consecutive months to attend any meeting of the authority (provisions contained under s85 of the Local Government Act 1972). The notice of vacancy did not contain the reason for the vacancy as there is no requirement for the Local Authority to provide that level of detail in the notice."

Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, says:

Andrew Pope

 

"So as well as not paying his council tax - and then being exposed by the Somerset Independents investigation - Paul Bolton also did not attend council meetings for over six months.

And then he was removed.

Would he still be a councillor if we had not exposed him? I think that he would be.

Did the Westminster parties do the investigation? No.

Did the local media? No.

It was left to volunteers at Somerset Independents to do it.

Is Bolton the usual calibre of councillor that has been elected in Somerset?

Sadly, yes.

We have found, and we have contacted all 250+ Somerset councillors several times on a range of issues, between 80% and 90% of Somerset councillors are hopeless at doing the job of representing residents and standing up for them.

And as our council tax investigation discovered, Bolton was not alone is persistently failing to pay his council tax.

We also know that Paul Bolton is not alone in not attending meetings and not representing the people that he is supposed to.

At Lib Dem-run Mendip District Council, councillors have repeatedly let off councillors for not attending meetings for over six months.

At South Somerset District Council, the former Leader of the Council, Lib Dem Ric Pallister, has been jailed for eleven years - whilst the Standards Committee failed to meet.

And the current Lib Dem Leader of South Somerset faced a vote of no confidence this month. The Police and HMRC are involved in investigations. It really is shameful.

At least Somerset West and Taunton council removed Paul Bolton, as they should do - unlike Mendip.

At Mendip, as documented on this website, Wells Lib Dem Councillor Catherine McKinnell skived off for months - councillors approved her disappearance for longer - and then resigned, causing a by-election. She was not removed by councillors - she was protected by them!

And then last year, there were even more Mendip councillors who did not turn up for meetings and were let off by other councillors.

Somerset's councils resemble holiday camps, instead of serving the people. Will this new Unitary Authority be any better? This is unlikely, as it will inherit the bad councillors, bad officers and bad debts from the existing councils!

The general standard of councils in Somerset is appalling.

But this is no different to other parts of England. I should know, as a former councillor in a unitary authority for eight years. Most councillors cannot be bothered to do the work needed.

The general standard of councillor in Somerset is also appalling. 

And the general standards of council officer is poor - but this is no surprise as the councillors do not provide leadership to the council officers. 

The lack of investigative journalism in Somerset by those paid to do it, is shameful.

It is mostly left to volunteers at Somerset Independents to do the investigating, while those paid to do it are living the easy life. Other than Somerset Independents, only The Leveller does any investigative reporting - the rest are skiving off, or reporting on dogs on skateboards instead of holding the powerful to account.

SomersetLive, the County Gazette and West Country Bylines all failed to report on councillors who did not pay their council tax, despite us giving them all the information FOR FREE! We were even berated by the  former editor of the County Gazette, for our investigation. What he said to us will shock you. It doesn't shock us, because we know how bad these news outlets are.

80%-90% of Somerset councillors are rubbish. But Somerset's MPs are no better. It is no surprise when the local media are absent without leave.

There is a serious lack of democracy and accountability in our great County.

Some drastic things have to change, if residents are to be proud of their councillors, their MPs and their councils. 

We have already outlined what we think needs to change and we have made councils change. But these first two years are only the beginning."

---

VICTORY (Jan 2022)! We are delighted to report that following our investigation into his failure to pay council tax, Councillor Bolton has now resigned - or has been removed - as a Somerset West and Taunton district councillor. 

We have been waiting for officers of Somerset West and Taunton Council to advise us of the reasons for Bolton's departure. Despite chasing more than once, we have not been advised.  

The Britain Elects preview of the by-election, which has now been polled resulting in a narrow Liberal Democrat victory, mentions our work as a pressure group.

Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, says:

Andrew Pope

"It is right that Paul Bolton is no longer a Somerset West and Taunton councillor.

Residents across the County of Somerset have told Somerset Independents that there is no valid excuse for any councillor to remain a representative of the people, if they are persistently in arrears on their own council tax.

Councillor Bolton eventually paid up, but only after we exposed his non-payment.

Meeting minutes show that he was also absent from many council meetings during 2021. If councillors are absent for more than six months, then they lose their seat.

Whatever the reasons, councillors that do not represent their residents, should not be councillors.

A by-election in the Alcombe ward has been triggered and the candidates have been confirmed - a Lib Dem, Tory, Labour and an Independent. We hope that the Independent is a better representative than Paul Bolton, if elected.

Now the other councillor in arrears who we contacted, Kelly Durdan, who refused to answer our questions when we contacted her on multiple occasions, should follow Paul Bolton and resign too. That's what residents demand."

---

UPDATE (10:15am 29/6/21): After pressure from Somerset Independents, Councillor Paul Bolton has now paid the arrears. He said in a message to our Leader Andrew Pope this morning:

"After our discussion on the phone yesterday I have taken legal advice and paid the amount in full as you can see from screenshot below of receipt and I shall continue my dispute and if need be shall claim costs back if owed at a later date. As I said I have no wish to avoid paying my council tax. And as for not replying to your emails sooner your emails were found in my junk folder. As I have stated to you on the phone yesterday i was informed in feb by the revenue department that my outstanding balance was £150 which was paid on the 11th feb. And as far as I was aware that was the end of the matter until more recently. I was not aware of the alleged full outstanding balance until I found your attachment regarding the freedom of information request. But rest assured I am now fully paid up until the start of the next financial year."

Somerset Independents listens to residents. It acts for residents.

Because we are residents, just like you!

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Somerset Independents has been campaigning to expose councillors who have not paid their council tax. 

Councillor Paul Bolton is an Independent councillor for Alcombe in West Somerset. He is also currently the Mayor of Minehead and a Town Councillor in Minehead. 

Cllr Bolton is in arrears with his council tax. We now publish details of Cllr Bolton's arrears that we obtained from officers of Somerset West and Taunton Council, in our Freedom of Information request.

Just in case the text is not visible, here it is, including the statement by the Council that "All balances remain outstanding":

"No payments received for 2019/20 or
2020/21
In arrears of £1,747.82
Reminder notices issued - prior to 22/05/19
for 2019/20, then a court summons 05/07/19,
Liability Order granted 24/07/2019, Request
for Financial information sent 25/07/19 but no
response
For 20/21 - reminder notice issued 23/07/20,
second reminder 23/10/2020, third reminder
All balances remain outstanding"

Somerset Independents had no reason to believe that the Council's FoI response was not accurate.

However, we wanted to offer a right of reply to Cllr Bolton.

We offered Cllr Bolton a right of reply on 4th June 2021 via email. Cllr Bolton did not reply. Then he did not reply on 6th June. He did not reply on 11th June either.

Cllr Bolton's Group Leader Councillor Gwilym Wren was copied in, to see if he would be able to assist us to get answers. No response was received from Cllr Wren.

So we phoned Cllr Bolton and left a voicemail. Cllr Bolton tried to ring back but left no message. So we rang him again and there was a conversation.

In the conversation, Cllr Bolton said that he had no intention of not paying council tax. He also mentioned a long-running dispute with the Council and its predecessor council before the merger, West Somerset.

Yet the council tax remains unpaid.

So we have asked Cllr Bolton to put in writing his response to the above FoI response from SWT Council.

And we've made it clear that Cllr Bolton needs to respond very soon with his explanation and answers to our questions.

Somerset Independents will continue its campaign to expose councillors who expect you to pay your council tax and increase your council tax, but do not pay their own council tax. We will expose any councillor - whether independent or in one of the Westminster parties.

Councillors are public officials once they take office. They are no longer private individuals.

By not paying their council tax, these councillors are breaching the Council's Code of Conduct, the Nolan Principles that all public officials are bound by, and they are outraging Somerset residents with their recalcitrance.

We await Cllr Bolton's answers.

Become A Registered Supporter Of Somerset Independents

 

Somerset Independents was originally formed by Somerset residents, for Somerset residents, back in March 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown, as a pressure group. 

The co-founders of the pressure group were Denise Wyatt and Andrew Pope.

Later in 2020, Denise and Andrew registered Somerset Independents as Somerset's first and only local political party specifically for Somerset, independent of the national political parties who put themselves ahead of Somerset. 

As we always say Labour, Lib Dem, Green or Tory, same old story. Somerset deserves better than the Westminster parties.

Since then, we have worked with local residents across the County of Somerset on the things that matter to them - from Wrington and Minehead in the north to Yeovil and Chard in the South, from Wellington and Taunton in the west, across Shepton Mallet and Pilton to Frome in the east.

Now we are delighted to offer residents the opportunity to become registered supporters of Somerset Independents. It's free to do so. You are free to do so. We welcome your support and encourage you.

Simply contact us at the details at the link here, with your email address. Our email address is somerinds [at] gmail.com . (<--- anti-spam mreasure, just put the @ symbol in there!).

We will send you a form to fill in with your details, with a declaration that we ask you to make, and then to send it back to us via post or email. There is currently no charge.

We will then keep you informed of our campaigns and our work with residents. 

We will ask you to support us and to work with us, to change Somerset for the better and according to the objectives in our Constitution which are as follows:

"The protection of Somerset’s residents.

The protection and promotion of democracy in all its forms.

The conservation of the environment and wildlife.

The promotion of the County of Somerset and protection of its interests and history."

 

Join us to stand up for residents, and to fight for an even better Somerset.

Disgraced West Somerset Councillor Kelly Durdan Refuses To Answer Why She Didn't Pay Council Tax

 

Councillor Kelly Durdan

Councillor Kelly Durdan is an elected councillor for Creech St. Michael, near Taunton in Somerset, as shown on the Somerset West and Taunton Council website. 

Somerset Independents has been campaigning to expose councillors who have not paid their council tax, because councillors are holders of power over residents and hold elected public office. This makes them accountable to the public and they are not ordinary residents while they hold that public office. This isn't only our view. It is the accepted view of the law.

Councillors in Somerset had the power to even put your council tax up during a Global Pandemic. We asked them not to do it, with Somerset Independents speaking at all four district councils and the county council, plus the Police and Crime Panel. But councillors did put up your council tax anyway. This was not right. It was not justified.

So if councillors put up OUR council tax, councillors should be paying council tax themselves, right? WRONG. Our investigations have found councillors who have not paid. Not just for one or two months, but over YEARS!

Councillor Kelly Durdan is one of these. Somerset Independents are now revealing the full extent of her record of non-payment of council tax, going back before Covid-19.  Here is an extract from the response to our Freedom of Information request to Somerset West and Taunton Council (our emblem added):

Extract from Somerset Independents
Freedom of Information Request
To Somerset West and Taunton Council

As you can see:

1. reminders were sent to Councillor Durdan for the previous year in January 2020 and February 2020, before the first lockdown
2. more reminders were sent to Councillor Durdan in August 2020, September 2020, October 2020 and March 2021
3. A COURT SUMMONS was issued in April 2021
4. A LIABILITY ORDER was granted in May 2021

We asked Cllr Durdan a set of further questions including why she was in arrears, but she refused to answer our emails. She also refused to answer whether she was now fully up-to-date.

We have offered Councillor Durdan the right of reply on several occasions. We didn't have to. We had no reason to believe that the Council's response was not accurate. Out of courtesy, we offered her the right of reply.

We have offered it to her again. But the public deserve to know about their councillors.

The latest was a phone call yesterday, when Cllr Durdan falsely claimed that this was the first time that we had contacted her. 

We had previously contacted her by email on 4th June 2021. And on 6th June 2021. We also copied her into other correspondence with her Group Leader Councillor Gwilym Wren, in relation to her fellow offender Councillor Paul Bolton. Cllr Durdan never responded.

So in a final effort to get an answer we phoned Cllr Durdan. 

Instead of apologising to the public for her arrears, and trying to give an explanation on her arrears that pre-dated the Global Pandemic, Cllr Durdan got irate and hung up. She told us that we should contact her Group Leader Councillor Gwilym Wren. We had already tried that! He didn't reply either.

Somerset Independents Officer Denise Wyatt called Cllr Durdan:

Denise Wyatt

Denise reacted to Cllr Durdan hanging up on her and failing to answer:

"It is bad enough that this councillor failed to pay her council tax over so many months and over years.

She had to be sent reminders by her own Council, that she is a councillor on, in January 2020 and many times afterwards.

So Cllr Durdan was in arrears BEFORE the Global Pandemic.

I asked her for an explanation. She didn't give one. Cllr Durdan tried to claim that this was all due to the Pandemic. It wasn't. She was already in arrears going back to 2019.

She should resign."

Somerset Independents has asked residents of the Somerset West and Taunton (SWT) Council area what they think about councillors in their area who don't pay their council tax.

Taunton resident Shawn said:

"Councillors not paying their council tax is disgusting behaviour by Somerset West and Taunton councillors. I can't actually believe this even happens, and the Council Leadership watches it happen! What has gone wrong with the moral authority of our councillors?

As a local resident, I think any councillor in arrears should be suspended and allowances stopped until they have fully paid up. This seems perfectly reasonable to me and I think 99% of residents would agree with me."

In reference to Councillor Paul Bolton and Councillor Kelly Durdan, those of SWT Council who have both received a court summons and liability order, Shawn says:

"I think they should resign, they’ve lost all moral authority to represent their constituents who they expect to pay their council tax. I really can't believe this goes on. I also wonder what the SWT Council leadership are doing about this, anything or simply turning a blind eye?"

We agree with this resident and we have suggested to both Councillor Bolton and Councillor Durdan that they should resign.

We have also suggested to Councillor Wren that Cllr Bolton and Cllr Durdan be removed from his Group. We have also made this point to other "independent" members of this Group of Councillors. We have had no response.

Somerset Independent has discovered that many, if not all, of the councillors in the SWT Council Group of "Independents" were formerly Conservative Party members and/or had stood for Council as Tory candidates.

So our investigations have not only shown these councillors to be serial offenders in not paying their council tax. They are also fake independents. And they are giving true independent councillors a bad name.

Bolton and Durdan must go. Local residents demand it, who told us:

Resident A: "That is disgraceful. They should not need to resign - they should be automatically excluded. There are so many people who struggle to manage on very low incomes but still pay their council tax etc. Why should these people get away with it. Not fit to hold office."

Resident B: "They should resign or be expelled. They are not fit to hold a position of Councillor."

Resident C: "They’re all only looking out for themselves just like the MPs! We’re all right Jack, don’t worry about anyone else!"

We agree. And we are taking action against these councillors, PCCs and MPs too. Councillors should have criminal records checks before they are elected. And they should be checked regularly thereafter.

Somerset Independents will continue its work with residents in investigating and exposing dodgy councillors, MPs or PCCs in Somerset, whether in the national political parties or bringing the name of "independent" councillors into disrepute.

 

Standing Up For Residents

UPDATE (6/7/21): Wiltshire Council Responds - Drink Driving Councillor Banned From Representing Residents But Can Be A Councillor! How? Why?

 

Wiltshire Conservative Councillor Jonathon Seed

UPDATE (6/7/21): We now have a response from Wiltshire Council to our questions on why it allows councillors to not have criminal records checks. 

They've confirmed that they don't carry out criminal records checks on all councillors and this is their policy.

More to come from us on this...

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How is it that a person that has a drink driving conviction and is BANNED from taking public office as a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), can somehow still be an elected councillor?

In the May 2021 election for Police and Crime Commissioners, Conservative candidate Jonathon Seed won the election. Seed is also a Wiltshire Conservative Councillor on the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, as shown on the Council website here.

But Councillor Seed was disqualified from taking office as Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, because he had a drink driving conviction. Drink driving is an imprisonable offence, although Councillor Seed did not go to prison. 

The rules for PCCs were decided by MPs in Parliament. These are the MPs of the national political parties - for England these are Labour, Tory, Lib Dems and Green.

It is clear that the rules for elected councillors are different to those for PCCs.

You would think that they would be the same, but they aren't.

Somerset Independents has asked Wiltshire Council whether they conduct criminal records checks for ALL councillors. They have confirmed that they do not. They said:

"Wiltshire Council conducts Enhanced DBS Checks for councillors who are in contact with, or receive information about, vulnerable people in our community as part of their role on the council.

The DBS Code of Practice stipulates that Registered Bodies, such as the council, should only submit disclosure applications in relation to relevant positions, for that reason it is not considered necessary to undertake a DBS check for all councillors; this approach is typical across councils nationally."

Somerset County Council conducts DBS checks on all councillors after being elected. Sedgemoor District Council also conducts DBS checks on all councillors. Both councils have confirmed this to us. This is as it should be. 

But not Wiltshire Council, even with a councillor such as Councillor Jonathon Seed representing the people of the "Melksham Without West and Rural" council area. A councillor who has been barred from public office as a Police and Crime Commissioner. 

The checks for a councillor to be elected to Wiltshire Council are obviously inadequate.

We've gone back to them with more questions, to challenge the untruths in their claims and find out more about what they are doing to protect the Wiltshire public from dodgy councillors.

So change is needed to protect the public's trust in their elected representatives.

Our Campaign for Criminal Records (DBS) Checks

Somerset Independents has been campaigning loudly for ALL those seeking election:

• councillors (cllrs)
  
• members of parliament (MPs)
• Police and Crime Commissioner (PCCs)

to have to undergo criminal records checks, using the Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS) checks. 

For anybody to be a candidate, we say that they have to be "clear" in the Standard DBS check.

Councillor Seed is under investigation by Police for what happened during his candidacy as a PCC. Under the rules, Seed was required to "self-declare" that he was not disqualified. It was  reported by ITV that Seed claimed that he told the Conservative Party. In a Statement, Seed said:

"I have declared my 30-year-old driving conviction to the Party in my applications both to be a Parliamentary candidate and more recently a PCC candidate."

It was ITV journalist Rupert Evelyn who investigated Councillor Seed and broke the news. Seed told ITV on camera that he would not speak to them or answer their questions.

It was not until ITV investigated that the full truth started to come out, with the report by Mr Evelyn published on 9th May, AFTER THE ELECTION. Wiltshire's voters had been conned.

There were inadequate independent checks made on Seed as a candidate. There are no independent checks such as a criminal records (DBS) check.

He and the Conservative Party were allowed by the lack of independent checks to stand him as a valid candidate, despite the criminal conviction for drink driving.

Instead, Seed and all other candidates were required only to make a self-certification in the  process to be a candidate. 

Nobody checked up on the candidates on whether their self-certification was accurate.

Independent Checks To Bring Public Trust

Independent checks are needed, because the public require their elected representatives to be trustworthy. 

Somerset Independents says that someone with a drink driving conviction or other imprisonable offence, IS NOT FIT TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE - PCC, MP or councillor. 

Do you agree? If you do or if you don't, we would love to hear from you.

A self-certification system as is the present case, by those who could conspire to cover up convictions, if they were so minded, is totally inadequate. The Seed case proves it.

Now it is up to the Police to investigate what happened. So we will not comment further on their investigation of what happened.

HOWEVER, could the estimated cost of £1.4 million of another election have been avoided?

YES. WE SAY A VERY LOUD YES!

If Seed had been subjected to independent criminal records DBS checks as part of the nomination process as a candidate, the Standard DBS check would have shown up his conviction. But the law does not require this at present.

The Standard DBS check "shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings", according to the gov.uk website.

The Basic DBS check is not adequate to show up this, because it only "shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions". 

ALL Representatives AND ALL Candidates MUST Be Checked

So Somerset Independents is now campaigning for the Standard DBS check to be applied to ALL elected representatives and ALL candidates to be elected representatives.

Before they are elected, they should be checked before becoming a candidate.

After they are elected, they should be checked by the Council once they have accepted office.

After this, their DBS checks should be renewed annually, not left for four years until the next election.

If the law was changed so that a candidate had to submit a DBS check as part of their nomination papers to the Returning Officer, it would then have to be "clear" for them to be declared as a valid candidate on the Statement of Persons Nominated issued by the Returning Officer.

What About Here In Somerset and Not "Over The Border"?

Sadly, many councillors in Somerset have not supported our campaign for DBS checks for all councillors. We've contacted them all, around 250 district and county councillors. 

As we've said above, Somerset County Council conducts DBS checks on all councillors after being elected. Sedgemoor District Council also conducts DBS checks on all councillors. Both councils have confirmed this to us. This is as it should be.

But Mendip District Council, Somerset West and Taunton Council, and South Somerset District Council all confirmed that they DO NOT carry out such checks.

Added to this, let's remember, Mendip have been economical with the facts about councillors that have not paid their council tax. South Somerset have flatly refused to answer questions about their councillors who have not paid council tax. 

Can you trust your councillors?

Some councillors were hostile to our enquiries about DBS checks. 

Some councillors said they support our campaign but did nothing to support it.

Some even argued that it should be the national political parties who do the checks. 

The Seed case shows that candidates and parties self-certifying does not deal with the problem of self-certification, as the potential for cover-ups exists - although this is not proven in the Seed case.

Independent checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service are needed. In the light of the Seed case, and many others before it, they are vital for confidence in candidates for public office.

Are There Dodgy Councillors in Somerset Like Wiltshire's Councillor Seed?

Are there councillors in Somerset who are like Councillor Seed over the border in Wiltshire? Residents can be almost certain that there are, due to what we have shown in this article, but they have not been exposed yet. 

Just like with our campaign on councillors who did not pay their council tax, but put up your council tax, it will be up to Somerset Independents to work with residents to expose these dodgy councillors.

Meanwhile, Somerset Independents will continue its campaigning to stand up for Somerset's residents to get better representatives and better representation.

Standing Up For Residents

UPDATED (17/6/21) Shepton Mallet Town Council - YET ANOTHER RESIGNATION! "No Going Back" Says Town Councillor

UPDATE (17/6/21): Following Andrew Pope's Statement and the Update From Nick Tolson which we published yesterday morning, Matt Harrison issued a Statement on the Town Council's website late yesterday.

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In November 2020, after the last round of resignations at Shepton Mallet Town Council, Andrew Pope who is Leader of Somerset Independents, spoke at the Town Council virtual meeting to ask for a full independent investigation. Sadly, another councillor has now gone.

Andrew said at the meeting that the problems were long-standing and needed to be ended once-and-for-all, for the good of Shepton Mallet and its residents. He urged a full investigation into the deep-rooted problems.

Andrew's full speech is below*.

When Andrew followed up after the meeting, the Town Clerk responded to Andrew by saying:

"it is necessary to work together and move forward and will be speaking to Cllr Harrison about matters raised at the meeting."

Councillor Matt Harrison is the Chair of the Town Council. He is also one of the Future Shepton councillors who won almost all of the seats in the by-elections caused by the resignations.

Since November, much has changed. The by-elections happened in May 2021, many new Future Shepton councillors were elected and Shepton Town Council has acquired a new dynamism. Things seem to be getting done in the Town (e.g. the skate park is finally getting sorted out after years of neglect).

But there has now been YET ANOTHER RESIGNATION! Independent Shepton Town Councillor Nick Tolson has resigned. His full statement is below**.

When former Councillor Tolson resigned, Andrew asked Nick Tolson if he would reconsider overnight. Nick told Andrew:

"Definitely no going back. Understandably I’m now cut off from the council. If previous resignations are to go by the town clerk will send my resignation letter to everyone. There’s a meeting tonight so I hope they’ll discuss it’s content. Someone worked out that there have been 17 councillor resignations and 4 town clerk resignations due to bullying in the last ten years!"

Andrew says: 

"The new Chair and new team of councillors since the by-elections should be applauded. Somerset Independents congratulates Future Shepton and all town councillors who have achieved the progress that Shepton Mallet and its people deserve.

So many resignations of councillors and town clerks are very sad statistics. This instability has to be ended now.

We hope that the long-standing problems can now be addressed and we leave it to the Town Council to reconsider my suggestion for a full independent investigation and to act on those recommendations. I have written to the Town Clerk again.

Hopefully the Monitoring Officer who is supposed to be responsible for ensuring due process in the Mendip area, will assist in those investigations to finally deal properly with the problems. It is difficult though to have confidence in the incumbent Monitoring Officer, given that the basics of governance at Mendip District Council continue to be ignored. Our website shows examples such as the Mendip Scrutiny Chair presiding over his own election and investigations into councillors not being conducted properly.

We offer our assistance to the Town Council again to try to bring stability and progress to Shepton Mallet and its people. We wish them well."

 

**Statement from (now Former) Councillor Nick Tolson, Shepton Mallet Town Council

"It is with extreme regret that I feel I must resign from the council.

Unfortunately, the council has failed to acknowledge and deal with the bullying behaviour of some councillors as identified by the Monitoring Officer in December last year.

Despite many opportunities to take action the council has failed to do so.

I can only conclude that that there is not the will within the council to deal with this behaviour that 'could be seen as bullying/intimidatory' in a prompt and appropriate manner.

As you know, Shepton Mallet Town Council has a history of accusations of bullying and intimidation. We have lost several Town Clerks and many councillors due to this. Our last Chairman and Vice Chairman both resigned siting bullying as an issue. Yet the council does nothing.

It seems to me that the council has institutional bullying and by that I mean that the bullying is entrenched and accepted as normal behaviour by the body as it had taken no prompt or practicable action to address this difficult issue.

I cannot continue in an organisation that permits bullying to continue unchallenged.

On a positive note, there is no doubt that the council has improved immensely and is starting to achieve things. However, the council will not move forward significantly until the bad behaviour of some councillors is addressed and they (and the council as a body) accept there is a problem.

As the Met Police accepted following the Stephen Lawrence enquiry, “In order to change everyone in the organisation has to accept that there is a problem.” Shepton Mallet Town Council has to look inwardly, look at the historic issues, accept there is a problem and then tackle it.

Mandatory Training, acknowledgement of bad behaviour, making a formal statement that bullying/bad behaviour is never acceptable, getting everyone, employees, and councillors to formally sign up to an anti-bullying policy would be a start.

I apologise to all the people who voted for me for not completing my full term but I cannot work with some councillors who do not even recognise that their behaviour is unacceptable.

*Andrew Pope Speech To Shepton Mallet Town Council EGM on 10^th November 2020

"Good Evening.

I am Andrew Pope, a local resident and Leader of Somerset Independents, a pressure group that stands up for Somerset’s residents. I am a former Independent City Councillor in Southampton and I was previously a Group Whip of the Labour Group on Southampton City Council. So I know what can go wrong, but I also know how to put things right.

For some time now, I have become increasingly concerned with the problems in Shepton Mallet Town Council.

The more I have looked and the more I have found out, the worse things have seemed.

I was hoping that the historical problems would be sorted out. But I am disappointed that they have not.

If anything, things have seemed to get even worse, with the Chair, Vice-Chair and Chair of the HR Committee all resigning at once.

Shepton Mallet the Town, and Shepton Mallet’s people, deserve better.

So do the people who live around Shepton Mallet, such as I do, in Lamyatt.

I want to see Shepton thrive and its people do too. I’m sure that I’m not alone in this feeling.

The continuing in-fighting and resignations are not doing Shepton’s people any favours. They are what matter most, and they are who the Town Council and its councillors are supposed to serve.

So I ask please, to help ensure that the change that is needed happens now, two things:

Firstly, I would like it to be confirmed that a full and independent investigation is done into the recent councillor resignations, as well as the previous resignations of both councillors and town clerks. There have been so many that there has to be serious problems that have not been addressed.

Secondly, I would like to ask that the resignation letters be published, so that Shepton’s people can make up their own minds as to what the problems with the Town Council are, and can then make their own judgements whether the steps required have been taken, and by the right people, and soon.

So to repeat: Please, a full and independent investigation into all the resignations – now and historical – and the publication, with names redacted if deemed necessary, of the resignation letters.

Thank you for listening and I hope that you will do as I suggest, for the good of Shepton Mallet and its people."

UPDATE (29/6/21): Somerset Bins and Recycling: COUNCILLORS NEED TO GET ANSWERS - Residents Unhappy Workers Unhappy

 

We Simply Asked Them Some Questions!
They Deleted The Post Without Explanation

UPDATE (29/6/21): Nothing so far from the councillors on the Joint Scrutiny Panel at Somerset County Council. We asked councillors to get answers, but we've had nothing from any of them.

We've chased up Somerset County Council to see if any of them bothered to address the issues that residents and workers raised with us.

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UPDATE (23/6/21): Do councillors represent the public or not? We've given them an opportunity to do so.

More evidence is coming to our attention. Another worker has told us that he was given agency work as a driver but ending up doing no work:

"got uniform done training then nothing ended up getting another job got fed up waiting".

Mickey Green, managing director of the SWP, told the Mendip District Council Scrutiny Board where Conservative Councillor Bente Height ranted about the poor service, that the SWP were trying to replace agency staff with workers on contracts.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COVID OR BREXIT.

Yet the SWP has put out press releases (PR) that claim that the shortage is down to these false reasons.

The SWP have a policy on employing employees instead of agency workers. The Covid and Brexit claims are false.

Or are workers being blacklisted? Are they not being employed for other reasons?

The people of Somerset deserve answers.

Somerset Independents have asked Somerset County Council to ensure that the issues that we have raised in this article below are asked at a Scrutiny Panel meeting today. Scrutiny Panels are supposed to grill council services. This is a contract farmed out by councillors, because elected representatives do not run the services in-house and they don't take responsibility for failures.

But the Council officer who runs the Panel has refused, because of the Council's rules designed to stop public participation at their meetings. You have to do it days in advance, or you are blocked from speaking or asking questions. It's ridiculous.

We have complained about these rules before - rules that councillors agreed and rules that mean the public is not represented and not heard.

We've asked the Council officer that all councillors are given the issues at hand. Today, we have heard again that drivers are available, given the uniform but are not being employed. Are they being blacklisted? What is going on?

So the councillors really need to get answers at the meeting, or the public will know that the councillors do NOT represent the public on the most basic of council services - the bins and the recycling.

The SWP contract is failing and if the problems aren't fixed, the contract needs to be terminated and consideration should be made of bringing the bins and recycling back in-house to be run directly by the councils.

Do you agree? Tell us by contacting us at the details here.

UPDATE (22/6/21): We have given the Somerset Waste Partnership a week to respond. They haven't answered our questions about the serious points made by residents and workers across  Somerset.

We've given them until the end of today and have been in touch with Head of PR, Nick Cater. He told us:

"Your email has been forwarded to colleagues and you will receive a reply as soon as possible."

But they have had the time to put out their PR, blaming Covid, Brexit, shortages of drivers and so on. We believe that they are being economical with the truth.

And still they don't respond to our questions and offers of a right of reply about allegations from residents and workers.

Meanwhile, we've received another worrying allegation about intimidation of a resident by an employee of the SWP, when the resident complained. The resident of Yeovil, who lives near the hospital but wanted to remain anonymous, told us:

"after issues with missed collections and boxes being left at random houses we complained. Few days later crew member knocked on our door wanting to know why we complained and he wanted to let us know that he lived nearby. He was quite in our face physically and it was more his tone and behaviour. Needless to say we leave the complaining to others now!!"

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UPDATE (15/6/21): We have asked the Somerset Waste Partnership questions. They didn't answer and they deleted our post on their Facebook page.

We asked residents if they were happy with the bins and recycling in Somerset, and the changes brought in by councillors from Mendip, South Somerset, Sedgemoor and SWT District Councils on the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP). 

The SWP has an army of PR people trying to convince Somerset's people that they are doing a good job. They had the time to delete our post asking them some questions, but when we emailed them, they said:

"We are also experiencing extremely high levels of contact and it may take up to ten working days to respond to your email.

Post Deleted In Minutes
But Emails Not Responded To For 10 Days?

This isn't good enough.

As before, Somerset Independents has news counter to the claims of the Somerset Waste Partnership. We believe that they recruited people but then left them waiting for work. 

And workers have left the SWP in their droves, including drivers, for better work.

We have been told that workers have to wait each day to be picked for work. 

This is like used to happen down on the docks in the early 20th Century, as described by former General Secretary of the Transport General Workers Union, Jack Jones.

We now call these "zero hours contracts", where you have a "job" but no guaranteed hours. 

We question whether this is justified or wise, considering the shortages of workers.

What is the Somerset Waste Partnership and Is It Accountable?

Since the 2019 local elections, most of those councillors on the SWP are Liberal Democrats. But there are Green, Labour and Conservative councillors that have been involved in council's decisions over bins and recycling. Yet the SWP is "arms length" from the councils, with representatives from councils.

No councillor is directly elected to the SWP, unlike councils.

So it is an unaccountable QUANGO (quasi-non-governmental organisation). Who cares about that and why would they?

Because the lack of accountability is impacting on services. And service is poor.

Councillors are supposed to stand up for residents that elect them. But they haven't done anywhere near enough of this. If they had, the problems would no longer be there. But the problems have got worse.

And with the rollout of changes to bins and recycling in Mendip, it has been disastrous. This will affect other areas unless the problems are addressed.

 

Residents Are Unhappy and Workers Are Unhappy

When residents are unhappy, the buck gets passed from the council to the SWP. And back to the council. We know because we've seen it happen to residents.

Residents told us that they were very unhappy. 

It's all over Facebook, despite the SWP PR attempts to "manage communities", in the words of the Lib Dem's Mendip Evercreech Councillor Barry O'Leary at a Mendip Scrutiny meeting. 

One Mendip councillor - Conservative Bente Height - even ranted directly at SWP staff at the same Mendip Scrutiny meeting. We applauded that. And SWP apologised.

But now we are hearing of more problems. 

More problems in the Somerset West and Taunton area, e.g. 4,000 missed bins in Taunton.

More problems in the Sedgemoor area.

More problems in the Mendip area, e.g. 1,400 missed in Frome.

And the army of SWP PR people have gone into overdrive. Worse, councillors like naive Green Councillor Michael Dunk are even repeating their claims and acting as a PR representative. 

This is despite residents not getting the services that they have paid for in their council tax.

Surely councillors should be listening to residents and telling their council and the SWP councillor representatives from their council, that it isn't good enough?

The SWP claimed yesterday on its Facebook page:

"WASTE COLLECTION IN MENDIP:

In Frome around 1,400 recycling and 800 rubbish collection will be missed and returned for tomorrow.

Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) said:

The main reason for disruption is a major nationwide driver shortage, coupled with local difficulties securing agency staff.

SWP’s collection contractor, SUEZ, has drafted in additional drivers from elsewhere in its operations for the coming weeks. However, unexpectedly high levels of sickness absence today has led to significant disruption as summarised below.

Crews are still out and the picture may change as the afternoon progresses. We will continue to post into local Facebook groups when further information is available.

SWP sincerely apologises for this disruption and asks for your patience as we work with our contractor to bring out services back on track in this tough period."

Frome Green Councillor Michael Dunk even repeated this PR spin in public. Yes, the same Michael Dunk who defended his Green Councillor colleague Francis Hayden for not paying his council tax for a nearly year. More about that elsewhere on this website.

 

But the PR spin from the SWP is counter to what we have been told. 

 

The full truth is more revealing.  

 

A resident of the Sedgemoor council area told us about the recruiting behaviour of the Somerset Waste Partnership, for a bin collector job:

"My relative went for a job collecting the bins. He got the job and him and some others went for their induction. They got given all their uniforms. He was then told to start on a certain date, when he arrived for work they sent him home again as they don’t need him that day. The next day they rang him before he left home again telling him they didn’t need him that day. They then kept giving him other start dates which were all then cancelled. That was a few months ago. He still hasn’t started and him still has the uniform as far as I know."

Added to the news that former drivers have also told us that they left the SWP for better work, it is clear that the Somerset Waste Partnership has serious employment issues.

We will be approaching the SWP for comment, because too many councillors are getting away with not standing up for residents. UPDATE - see top of the article for latest news.

Standing Up For Residents.