Councillors deny racism in council probe
A former city mayor has accused Wolverhampton council of 'weak management' for spending thousands of pounds on a 'pointless' investigation into claims of racism.
Councillor Ian Brookfield, who was Mayor in 2015-16, and Councillor Steve Evans, the authority's cabinet member for environment, are set to appear in front of the city's standards committee over an alleged breach of the council's members' code of conduct.
The two Labour Fallings Park councillors are alleged to have racially abused members of the public at the council's election count at Aldersley Leisure Village in May last year.
They have both denied the claims. A police investigation found neither councillor had a case to answer.
But Wolverhampton council's top legal officer Kevin O’Keefe launched an internal probe, hiring a private investigator to look into the allegations.
A furious Mr Brookfield told the Express & Star: "The police had already conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations.
"They closed the book on it, but that wasn't enough for the council's chief legal officer who decided in his infinite wisdom that an internal investigation was required.
"This pointless investigation has ended up costing the taxpayer a five figure sum. It has been a complete waste of time and money.
"It is weak management on the part of the officers. They have failed in their gatekeeping role."
The authority refused to confirm the cost of the investigation, which lasted for more than three months and saw 19 potential witnesses interviewed.
Mr O’Keefe said: “In July 2016, I received a written complaint making an allegation about the conduct of two councillors.
"In my role as the council’s monitoring officer, I am duty-bound to investigate any allegation which, if proven, would amount to a breach of the councillor code of conduct.
"I commissioned an independent investigator to examine the allegations and speak to potential witnesses.
"In line with agreed procedure set out in the council’s constitution, the investigator’s report will now go before the council’s standards committee.
"It will be for members of that committee to decide whether there is a case to answer and whether it proceeds to a full hearing.
"We will be making no further comment at this stage.”
The standards committee meeting was due to take place behind-closed-doors on March 28 but was cancelled. It is set to be rescheduled for next month.
Mr Brookfield, who is a member of the committee, will stand down from his position on the six-strong panel for the duration of the hearing.
Mr Evans declined to comment.
