Investigation is 'a slow torture' (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Investigation is 'a slow torture'

1:00pm Sunday 21st March 2010 in

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“SLOW torture” – that is how the borough deputy mayor has described the process he is undergoing as he is investigated over complaints that threaten his chances of becoming mayor.

Four complaints have been made alleging Councillor Phil Heath breached the councillors’ code of conduct, and an investigation into them has begun.

Cllr Heath’s opponents have said that because the comp-laints are unresolved, he should not become the borough’s first citizen, in contravention of the constitutional rule that the most senior councillor becomes mayor.

This week, it emerged that Cllr Heath’s hopes of a speedy investigation have been dealt a setback.

Investigators offered to interview him about the claims either on March 22, four dates in April or seven dates in May.

He wrote back within three hours to accept the March 22 date – only to be told, five days later, that all the dates prior to May 4 were now unavailable.

As a result, the chances of a verdict being reached on the complaints before the crucial May 13 meeting to elect a new mayor appear to be nil.

Cllr Heath said: “It’s not justice. It is, quite frankly, slow torture that they’re putting me and my family through, and it’s totally intolerable.

“Knowing what is happening with the mayoral situation, you would have expected that they would have pulled out all the stops to either clear my name or come to a conclusion so that it can be resolved.”

Of the four complaints, two have come from councillors in the Conservative group, which Cllr Heath once led and from which he was expelled in 2008. The others have come from council officers, including chief executive Tony Curtis, who was unhappy at Cllr Heath’s criticism of the local authority’s response to this winter’s heavy snowfall in December and January.

Cllr Heath, who is now a member of the Basingstoke First Community Party, said: “If I was the suspicious kind, I would suspect that they don’t want my case to be heard before May.”

Borough council communications manager Sara Shepherd said: “There is a set procedure for the investigations and at what stage the councillor against whom the complaint has been made should be interviewed.

“Investigations usually take some time to complete and are confidential until the final reports are presented back to the standards committee.”