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| 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:
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| 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."
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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.
Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, says:
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| 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."
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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.
"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.
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