Stephen Greenhalgh Warned over "Bottom Patting" Incident
Ex-Council Leader's conduct "may have fallen short of expectations"
Former Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council Stephen Greenhalgh, now a London deputy mayor, has been given a verbal warning over claims he touched a female colleague’s bottom in a lift at City Hall.
Mayor Boris Johnson told the London Assembly: "It is certainly right for us to remind everybody in this place that there can be no inappropriate conduct of any kind in the GLA and that is the very firm advice I have given to the deputy mayor for policing in London."
However, the Mayor said no further action would be taken taken against Mr Greenhalgh. "There is no conclusive evidence here about what has or has not happened," he said.
He also told assembly members that he had confidence in Mr Greenhalgh, who stepped down from his role as Hammersmith and Fulham Council Leader in May to become Deputy Mayor for Policing, and added that he was "doing a first rate job."
Labour had called for an inquiry into Mr Greenhalgh's behaviour following claims that a woman told a colleague he had behaved inappropriately towards her in a lift last month, by touching her bottom.
She was said to have been "upset" by the incident but had not made a formal complaint.
Mr Greenhalgh, 43, responded saying: "I have no recollection of this event and understand no complaint has been made.
" Nonetheless, I would like to apologise unreservedly for anything that could be or may have been construed as inappropriate on my part."
The claims led to an inquiry into whether the issue amounted to a "conduct matter".
In a letter to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac), the monitoring officer for the Greater London Authority, Ed Williams, said the female staff member said she considered "the core elements" of what had been reported in the media to be "true" and "there was contact".
But he added: "It is also the case that I have not questioned the deputy mayor for policing and crime about the alleged incident, as I do not consider that to have been a necessary part of this process.
"I have decided that the conduct of the deputy mayor for policing and crime did not on this occasion amount to a 'conduct matter' as defined above. I will not therefore be recording or referring the matter to the IPCC.
"However, in taking into account the views of the member of staff, I have been obliged to consider that the conduct of the deputy mayor may, inadvertently or otherwise, have fallen short of expectations, whilst noting also that no complaint has been made."
December 20, 2012
