NO CONFIDENCE

Ann Crosby, who is vice-chairman of the city council's planning control committee, is accused of failing to reveal that a planning applicant was a Lib Dem colleague. Councillor Sara Bolton, of the opposition Labour group, made the allegation during a meeting of the committee in January 2004.

Ms Bolton said, "Being a chair or vice-chair on any council committee is a responsibility and we have to lead by example. Councillor Crosby clearly doesn't understand the declaration of interest procedure and, therefore, I will be proposing the vote of no confidence."

Ms Crosby survived a vote of no confidence by 24 to 23 at a full council meeting. Labour councillor Ray Baxter, former planning committee chairman, who seconded the vote of no confidence, said, "Councillor Crosby declared a personal interest in the planning application but she failed to explain the reasons. She did not discuss the matter any further but sat with the public in the gallery. She should have completely left the chamber. This is not about party politics, it is about honesty and integrity in planning."

Ms Crosby told the meeting, "I did declare an interest. I said I knew the applicant and I did not vote on the issue. I did not speak about the application at all and did not declare a prejudicial interest because I considered I did not have one. I was guilty of sitting in the public gallery." The Standards Board decided that Ann Crosby brought her office, and the council, into disrepute and she was found guilty of breaching the local government code of conduct on three counts.

The Standards Board nevertheless ruled that no further action should be taken. Councillor Sara Bolton said "I'm very pleased that the Standards Board has thoroughly investigated the situation and found Ms Crosby guilty on four counts. She acted unprofessionally and inappropriately for a vice-chairman of the planning committee."

The ruling, by the Standards Board's ethical standards officer, stated that Ms Crosby had a "personal and prejudicial interest" in the Riverlights planning application because she had been involved with the Bus Station Action Group and continued to support its campaign. Ms Crosby said, "If trying to represent the views of thousands of Derby citizens brings the council into disrepute, the system is not very democratic."

Ms Crosby said that the matter contributed towards her decision to stand down as a councillor. She claimed that it was unfair that she was not allowed to speak against the Riverlights development when other councillors were allowed to speak in favour of it.

Derby Tories are to hold a vote of no confidence in their own councillors. The apparent turmoil in the city's Conservative Party comes only a month after its councillors formed an alliance with the Liberal Democrats to take control of the city council from Labour. Members of Derby City Conservative Association (DCCA) have been called to a special general meeting, when they will vote on a motion of no confidence in the Tory group.

A letter, sent to members of the DCCA, states: "The motion to be debated and voted on, as per the requisition of members, shall be 'a motion of no confidence in the Conservative Group on Derby City Council and to empower the association officers to take appropriate action'." It has not been revealed who forwarded the motion, but many Tory supporters are known to be angry that their city councillors agreed to ally with the Lib Dems.

The last local elections left Labour with 25 seats, the Lib Dems with 13, the Tories with 12 and one Independent. This led to the Tories and Lib Dems forming an alliance with Independent Ron Allen. The Tories have four cabinet members - council deputy leader Philip Hickson; Evonne Berry, for regeneration, social inclusion, youth and community; Roy Webb, for social care; and Paul West, for leisure and cultural services. The others are Pauline Latham, Richard Smalley, Peter Berry, Colin Brown, Julie Hickson, Balbir Singh Samra, Ronald Liversedge and Paul Willitts.

DCCA chairman Nick Brown, who signed the letter, was unavailable for comment. But Mr Hickson, Tory group leader, said, "I acknowledge a lot of members have concerns about the two parties joining together. We, as councillors, also have concerns, but it's early days and we don't know how things are going to work out. It's about putting Derby before party politics and I welcome the opportunity to be able to discuss this with a wide group of Conservative members."

He said that passing the motion would have "no real effect" and the association would have no power to kick the councillors out of the party. Council leader and Lib Dem Maurice Burgess said: "This is something for the Conservatives to deal with, but we do have a good working relationship with the Tories on the council and we're aiming to show two different parties can work together for the betterment of the city." Councillor Chris Williamson, Labour group leader, said, "If I'd agreed to a coalition, I would fully have expected my party members to be unhappy. I think this could be the death knell for the Tories in Derby."

A report reveals how local authority members are being barred from speaking or voting on subjects simply because they are perceived to have taken a position on the issue. Even councillors who have been elected specifically to fight a particular issue have fallen foul of the rules and found themselves told they cannot speak or vote on it. The controversy centres on the Standards Board for England, which was launched by John Prescott in 2001.

The board handles complaints about councillors' behaviour and is supported by a network of ethical standards officers, who are each paid £61,000 a year. Each authority also has its own monitoring officers who advise councillors on their conduct. In 2003-04 the board handled more than 3,500 allegations and launched 1,105 investigations. Sanctions were imposed on more than 200 councillors who were judged to have breached the code of conduct.

Councillors on South Cambridgeshire district council, for instance, were warned that they should not "pronounce on a park-and-ride scheme if they drove a car", says the report, A Question of Standards. The report adds that the councillors were also told "they might be disqualified from discussing the siting of a mobile phone mast if they themselves used a mobile phone". (Source: Daily Telegraph, Sep/06)