Council will not share full report into bullying allegations

DISQUIET AS COMMITTEE ASKED TO 'RUBBER-STAMP' KEMP INVESTIGATION WITHOUT HAVING SEEN FULL DETAIL

- By JAMES ROBINSON

MEMBERS of Newcastle City Council’s audit and standards committee have been told they will not see any further details from a long-running investigation into bullying allegations against the former council leader.

It comes as the final cost of the nine-month long investigation was revealed to be £79,552.

Members of the committee were unhappy that the city council had chosen not to make details of the investigation into allegations made against former leader Coun Nick Kemp by senior officer Michelle Percy public.

The local authority has previously said those involved had a “right to privacy” and that the report “should remain confidential” after it was found Coun Kemp did not breach the code of conduct.

A copy of the report has since been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Speaking at Tuesday's meeting of the audit and standards committee, councillors said they were unhappy at being asked to “rubber-stamp” the report without having seen the full details.

It was stressed that there was no desire to contest the findings of the investigation by law firm Bevan Brittan, which found Coun Kemp did not breach the code of conduct in the context of the “enhanced protection” under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to freedom of expression in a political context.