Today’s meeting of Full Council descended into farce when the Liberal Democrat leader, Lucy Nethsingha acknowledged she had vital information and stated it was OK not to share it.
At the AGM in May the new administration pushed through constitutional changes under urgency provisions. On the day and ever since the Conservatives have held the view this was legally unsound. I presented a simple motion today to ratify all decisions (even though I don’t agree with some of them) which would have secured them for the Council. Ever since the AGM in May, both Cllr Schumann and myself have asked to see the legal advice. This had been refused by the monitoring officer and we were therefore only able to base our motion on a summary. Before todays meeting I had issued a compliant and FOI to see that Legal advice, but I was told it was protected by client privilege and proceeded on the grounds that the administration were in the same boat, so to speak.
However, Cllr Nethsingha was first to comment in the debate and revealed that she had had access to the full legal advice, which we were denied. She then went on to claim it was her right as leader and we had no right to see it. The very constitutional fabric of a debate is that officers work for all Councillors and present them with the same information to draw their conclusions from. The fact that the administration had access to Legal advice, the very crux of the matter being debated and withheld it from the opposition is completely at odds with appropriate behaviour.
I have issued a formal complaint regarding this matter and will be strenuously pursuing this through every means possible. I will also issue a complaint against Cllr Nethsingha for breach of one of the core Nolan principals, her lack of transparency, which was not helped by the fact that when found out, she believed her leadership position entitled her to behave that way.
Subsequent to the revelation I realised our group would be debating a motion with one hand tied behind our back, whilst the administration not only were unfettered but had been handed loaded pistols. I decided to withdraw the motion and leave the chamber in disgust, with many of the group also followed me out.
Anyone who follows local politics will recognise this as a new low for Cambridgeshire. When residents elect their councillors of any political persuasion they expect the representatives to be fairly briefed and informed. By denying one group information is to deny Cambridgeshire residents their right to representation. Totally unacceptable.
Councillor Steve Count 