More Local Government Sleaze!

Councillor Robert Wann

Hardly have the Leicestershire electorate recovered from the decision of the County Standards Committee to severely censure the County Council Chairman for ignoring the Council's code of conduct over his expenses than another case emerges!  


This time a former Lord Mayor of Leicester has coerced senior officers of the Council to write off his parking tickets and provide him with parking exemptions that he was not entitled to. The chairman of the Leicester City 'Standards Committee' has stated publicly that they would have had him suspended if that was in their range of powers.


If they cannot have him suspended then why are they in business? Effectively they are letting these villains off scot free! They should be in the dock because they are committing crimes. I don't just mean the councillors. I also mean the officers who allowed themselves to be coerced.


Now apparently the former Lord Mayor of Leicester did not attend the hearing as he was on holiday at the time and says he intends to appeal. Surely between the Standards Committee and the accused they could have arranged a hearing date which suited them both? If my integrity was under such scrutiny then I am sure I would have cancelled the holiday.


In the meantime I just wonder how the 'Further Training' ordered for the Chairman of the County Council is proceeding. Have they for example got to the point where he has opened the rule book on claiming expenses? Does his wife still deal with the money that he receives from the European Union? Has she read the rule book or is she still working out how he managed to claim a million pounds in expenses over the past five years?


Does anyone else not think that the whole, rotten, corrupt system should be investigated by independent auditors and not by insiders on various 'Standards Committees' who seem hell bent on keeping these arrogant public purse pilferers in positions where they can still do maximum damage?!