Stephen Cowan asked to apologise to ex-councilor Eugenie White
Stephen Cowan, Leader of the Labour Group of Councillors in Hammersmith and Fulham Council, has been asked to apologise to ex-Tory Councillor Eugenie White over claims he made about her on his blog, The Cowan Report.
Tory Councillor Mark Loveday made a complaint about an item on Mr Cowan's blog which was headlined "Former Tory Councillor's £230 per Meeting Bung".
Mr Loveday said that Councillor Cowan had failed to treat former Councillor White with respect and had brought his office into disrepute by referring to the allowance she was entitled to under the Council’s constitution as a "bung".
It was suggested that this amounted to a breach of the Council’s Code of Conduct which states that you must treat others with respect and you must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or the authority into disrepute.
Mr Loveday's complaint was considered in August by the Standard's Committee's Assessment Sub-Committee, who were informed by the Monitoring Officer, Michael Cogher, that between the time Councillor Loveday had sent the link and the time of printing it, Councillor Cowan had amended his blog changing the title of the article from "Former Tory Councillor’s £230 Per Meeting Bung" to "Former Tory Councillor’s £230 Per Meeting Tip". The article contained an explanation for his reasons for doing so.
The sub-committee agreed there appeared to be no dispute that the word "bung" was used in the original version of the blog and this had since been changed to "tip".
On his blog, on July 6, Mr Cowan reported that another councillor, PJ Murphy had questioned the appointment of Ms White, who until the election on May 6 was councillor for Ravenscourt Ward, as a non-voting co-opted member of the Audit and Pensions Committee. The allowance for this role is £921 and involves attendance at four meetings.
In the original version of his blog, Mr Cowan referred to this fee as a "bung" and said the Labour opposition were seeking a review of this appointment. However he subsequently amended the wording, saying: " The Conservatives have responded to this but have tellingly only sought to take exception to our use of the word 'bung'. They say 'a bung is a slang term for a bribe'. I am very happy to confirm that we are not accusing Ms. White of seeking or taking a bribe or anything like it.
" I do not believe she would ever do that or (unlike some of her Tory colleagues) that she actively sought out this payment. Our criticism is aimed at the Conservative run Council. 'Bung' is mostly a slang term for a 'gratuity' or 'tip' that would rightly be paid after a service had been provided. It is also defined as expressing how something is 'thrown' or 'slung' to someone. I have changed the wording in the title to clarify our position."
As we reported at the time, Hammersmith and Fulham Council hit back at Mr Cowan's claims, saying Ms White's appointment was "not unusual". A council spokesman said: " All of the council's committees have the power to co-opt new members if they feel that there are skills and experience that do not sufficiently exist within the current membership.
" The Audit and Pensions Committee felt that Ms White's twenty years of management and directorship experience working in the investment industry and her extensive knowledge of the investment and pension market made her the ideal candidate to supplement the important work of the panel."
The spokesman also pointed out that the £921 allowance for co-opted member of committees was agreed by Annual Council on May 26 this year and individual committees cannot decide how much to pay co-opted members.
After considering the documents regarding Mr Cowan's claims, the Assessment Sub-Committee decided unanimously to refer the matter to the Monitoring Officer for the following action to be taken:
Circulate guidelines to all Members on the application of the Code to blogs.
Convey the Committee’s wish that Councillor Cowan apologise directly to former Councillor White for his original choice of words.
In reponse to this story, Ms White said: " Thank you for reporting the Standards Committee findings on Cllr Cowan's defamatory accusations, which, though grudgingly retracted by him on his political blog, had caused such damage by being more widely reported to the general public in its original form.
"I continue to await the apology from Cllr Cowan that the Standards Committee recommended be made by him in their decision of nearly two months ago
Mr Cowan however remains unrepentant. He said: " The Standards Board kicked out Cllr. Loveday's complaint. It was a ridiculous, highly political and false complaint and they saw through it.
" The only apology due is from the Conservative Administration for giving £230 of tax payers' money, per meeting, to an ex-Conservative Councillor friend of theirs after arranging for her to sit on the committee that's meant to audit the Council's financial dealings. You couldn't make it up if you were writing a book.
" It is my job to hold the Administration to account and that's what I did. This follows on the Conservative Councillors awarding themselves and 18% salary rise, then the Leader of the Council awarded himself a secret 14% salary rise. This is not on - especially in these straightened times. There should be genuinely independent people sitting on the Audit Committee and they should have the support of all the political parties elected to the Council.
" I am sorry to say the Opposition does not support ex-councillor White's appointment to this important committee. If Labour wins the next local elections we will have an open recruitment process for co-opted membership of the Audit Committee and the successful applicants will have been interviewed and appointed by a cross-party committee."
ends
October 26, 2010
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