Brent Councillors have been invited to submit evidence to Richard Penn's investigation into issues surrounding the death of Cllr Tayo Oladapo.
This is the submission by Brent's only Liberal Democrat councillor Dr Helen Carr:
This is the submission by Brent's only Liberal Democrat councillor Dr Helen Carr:
God Bless Cllr. Tayo. I did not know him, but I am saddened his untimely death has triggered this unpleasant, but necessary enquiry.
Cllr. Tayo. Facts and Questions to be answered.
The facts are, according to my understanding, that Cllr. Tayo Oladapo had not attended Full Council for more than one calendar year. This was known, accepted and voted upon by Full Council.
The Labour Group had known about his illness for some considerable time.
His death in January was allegedly not known by the Labour Party until March.
The Labour Whip will have been responsible for moving the vote to excuse Cllr. Oladappo from attending Full Council.
Questions to be answered:
Within any political party (Labour in this case), what are/what is the nature of the procedures to report an absence?
At what point is an absence sufficient to effectively terminate a Councillor’s duty?
Who is the person responsible for checking, monitoring, regulating and reporting when there is an absence :
- Within a political party?
- Within Brent?
Within a political party, who and what are the procedures to report and pass on information regarding an absence, illness or death?
Are there any (in this case, within the Labour Party), if so, were they met? If not, why not?
At what point should or could a bi election have been called? What should/would have triggered the call for a bi election? Attendance and death is obvious and measurable, but what of sanity? Ill health – at what point and who decides if a Councillor is Fit for Purpose? (the definition being ..?).
Was information withheld? By Whom? When? Why? How? What evidence is available?
In this particular case, is the Labour Party responsible for procedures, or Brent Council’s Chief Executive? Where does the burden of proof lie? Or do the political parties have no responsibility for identifying and passing on such information?