Ledden has written to him about an investigation she is undertaking into information 'of a sensitive nature' which appeared in a letter from Paul Lorber published in the Brent and Kilburn Times on November 8th.
The letter was about the senior management restructuring which did not go to General Purposes Committee until November 5th.
Ledden said:
In the letter...you refer to the disbanding of the Environment department. This was confidential information and staff in the department were not aware, no consultation documentation could be available until after the meeting of General Purposes Committee.She went on to say:
I am very concerned that this information was available to you and I an writing formally to ask you who gave you that information.Ledden went on to offer to have a meeting with Lorber 'if that would assist'.
Ledden does not cite any authority for making such a request of someone who is now a member of the public.
Lorber replied that he was sorry that she had been asked to waste her time on the matter and wrote:
He went on to say that 'in the spirit of Open Government' he would be happy to answer the question:I expect that the Labour Leader must have been furious at the disclosure of his secret hatchet plan. Secret even from his own Councillors and even the newly appointed Lead Member of Environment.
I worked it out for myself from the headlines of the report. My many years on the Council and my intuition led me to guess which Department was for the chop and which Lead Member was the weakest and therefore least likely to cause a fuss.
Perhaps you would now reciprocate by forwarding a copy of the General Purposes Report so that it can be properly scrutinised and debated.
Ex Executive member Cllr George Crane was appointed successor to Cllr Keith Perrin on October 21st. Perrin had the previous month resigned for 'personal reasons'. The appointment made by Muhammed Butt and not by ballot of the Labour Group was first announced on the Wembley Observer's Get West London website.
Wembley Matters published the outline Agenda item for the General Purposes Committee on October 30th LINK and the anonymous officers' report on Saturday November 8th LINK which identified plans to delete Fiona Ledden's post as Director of Legal and Procurement along with the post of Assistant Chief Executive which has only been created a year or so before. Some information was still withheld as the Council claimed details about individual staff could be identified.