1. To Councillor Farnell, Chairman of the Planning Committee, from Councillor Wainwright:
“In your role as the Staff Champion at RDC have you seen the Scrutiny Committee draft report into their investigation into alleged bullying at Ryedale District Council?”
2. To Councillor Clark, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, from Councillor Wainwright:
“Please will you inform members of any progress made since the last Full Council meeting of your Committees investigation into alleged bullying of Staff here at Ryedale District Council?”
Minutes:
1. Councillor Wainwright submitted the following question:
To Councillor Farnell, Chairman of Planning Committee:
“In your role as the Staff Champion at RDC have you seen the Scrutiny Committee draft report into their investigation into alleged bullying at Ryedale District Council?”
The Chairman of Planning Committee, Councillor Farnell replied:
“The answer to that question is no.”
Councillor Wainwright asked the following supplementary question:
“Councillor Farnell, I believe that you as our Staff Champion and someone who's spoke strongly in favour of an investigation into bullying 18 months ago should have had sight of the report. Then you would have been able to answer any pertinent questions put to you by the staff to reassure them that if bullying has been found steps have been taken to prevent its recurrence. Don’t you agree?”
Councillor Farnell replied:
“In actual fact no I don't agree because that report was asked for by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee not by myself. I am in regular contact with staff, through meetings regularly with the Chief Executive, with the Head of Human Resources and I attend a staff working group also on a regular basis.”
2. Councillor Wainwright submitted the following question:
To Councillor Clark, Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
“Please will you inform members of any progress made since the last Full Council meeting of your Committees investigation into alleged bullying of Staff here at Ryedale District Council?”
The Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Clark replied:
“May I start off by marking your homework the same as I did last time. You referred to last time, if you look at the minutes, you referred to it as his Committee and I pointed out to you that it is not my Committee. This time you've amended that to your Committee, it is still not my Committee, it is the Committee of this Council. That's the first point of clarification for you. The second correction is that you've just asked the Staff Champion has she seen the draft report into the investigation. Unfortunately there isn't a draft report into the investigation, so it's a little unreasonable to ask her to see a copy of a draft one that doesn't exist but never mind. Coming to your question that you've asked me, the answer is exactly the same as it was on pages 5 and 6 of the minutes that we've just agreed.”
Councillor Wainwright asked the following supplementary question:
“Thank you Councillor Clark for correcting my wrongful description of your Committee. So, my supplementary then is in answer to one of my previous questions you said that I'd twice voted against a Scrutiny investigation into alleged bullying and now you can understand why. I believe that at that time it was an impossible task and that no positive result would be forthcoming and that it would be waste of residents' money and with that I feel I was correct. I'm assuming that we have not had a Scrutiny report on this subject because it hasn't produced the results you wanted and that you are chivvying - I wouldn't be so bold as to say bullying - the producers of the report until they produce a report with the results you want. Do you agree with that?”
Councillor Clark replied:
“I don't really know where to start with this. It's no progress from where you're sitting and you know why that is, because it is in two items of exempt, both of which you are aware of and I am not going to put exempt information into the public domain just to make you comfortable with the answer. You consider it a waste of money, I would be delighted to know how much you think bullying - if it happens - is worth or not worth. I think that is an incredible statement. Not the result I wanted - that's another cracker. It really is. I have only ever wanted the bullying that I thought might be happening, the best part of five years ago now, to be looked into and nothing happened to look into it for three and a half of those years. So what that means as to how you were mind reading as to my expectations, I have no clue. I hope you are able to justify to those who may have been bullied, because if there have been people bullied that's a fairly heavy statement to make. Then the next one - chivvying the report authors - what exactly Chair is Councillor Wainwright alluding to? That when we ask for an independent, confidential report to be done that I would then try and influence and change that result. Because if that - through you Chair - is what Councillor Wainwright is alluding to, just put one slither of evidence on the table or withdraw either just the statement or this meeting because that is not the sort of accusation that I am prepared to take from anybody without evidence and you have not got a jot of evidence for that for one very good reason. Through you Chair - there is no evidence.”
[Councillor Duncan arrived at the meeting.]