Crewkerne Residents Outraged By Our Revelations into Their District Councillors And Take Action

 

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Somerset Independents puts residents first. We work with residents to improve their lives and their areas.

Crewkerne is a town in South Somerset, near the border with Dorset. It has a Town Council and comes within the boundaries of South Somerset District Council.

A group of angry Crewkerne residents were outraged by councillors who did not pay their council tax, and took action.

Over the last two years, Somerset Independents investigated South Somerset district councillors who did not pay their council tax. We published our findings on our website and asked local news outlets to report on it. 

Both of Crewkerne’s district councillors – Liberal Democrat councillors Ben Hodgson and Robin Pailthorpe - were named as non-payers in our investigations. Hodgson and Pailthorpe were also Crewkerne town councillors. Both councillors ignored repeated offers from Somerset Independents of a right of reply.

The group of concerned residents saw our work on our website, in The Leveller and in Private Eye. This led to action. They told us:

"We are disappointed that Crewkerne councillors who were in arrears have continued to influence and vote on budgets and precepts. Although this may not be a breach of the Town Council’s Code of Conduct, we believe that it is morally wrong. We are also seeking legal advice."

Crewkerne District Councillor
and Lib Dem
Ben Hodgson

According to SSDC responses to our Freedom of Information requests, Councillor Hodgson was as at 29^th April 2021:“£834.22 in arrears, £678.46 relates to last financial year. Application for disregard in progress but SMI (Severe Mental Impairment) application will be turned down”.

 

Crewkerne District Councillor
and Lib Dem
Robin Pailthorpe

As of the same date, Councillor Pailthorpe had “vacated this address with outstanding balance of £1328.66, £470.62 of which is in arrears and subject to a liability order.” Pailthorpe’s “full balance” was due on “10th May 2022”. 

So the residents decided to run candidates in the 2022 Crewkerne Town Council elections. Two of their three Independent candidates were elected, beating Conservative Party candidates. One Independent was not elected. 

As official minutes showed, despite having attended Crewkerne Town Council meeting of April 2022, neither Pailthorpe nor Hodgson stood in the Town Council elections. Perhaps they were embarrassed by their arrears that Somerset Independents had exposed? Who knows, when they do not respond to our repeated attempts at communication.

The resident groups’ election successes and further information from Somerset Independents’ investigations, have spurred the group into more action, to challenge the non-paying councillors and to independently represent the concerns of Crewkerne residents.

Somerset Independents is in regular contact with the residents.

We are continuing our investigations into councillors.

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