City council in turmoil as City Director and Clerk is suspended

Martin Shipton

A city council is in turmoil after two senior officers were suspended amid unspecified allegations of financial irregularities.

Bangor City Council is one of the largest lowest tier local authorities in Wales, with an annual budget of approximately £500k. Although it has no responsibility for major public services like schools and social services, it has to maintain Bangor’s Victorian pier and owns a football stadium.

A council insider contacted Nation.Cymru by email, stating: “On July 16, a staffing committee meeting chaired by Cllr Delyth Russell decided to suspend from duty the City Director and City Clerk Dr Martin Hanks and the city’s project manager Mr Emlyn Williams pending a forensic accountant’s examination of the council’s finances and procurement. The full council were informed the next day and many questions remain over what is happening in Bangor City Council.

“The decision to suspend the two officers was made by three councillors only: Delyth Russell, Eirian Willams-Roberts and Jackie Spence. No other members of the staffing committee were present. Delyth Russell is a close friend of Eirian Williams-Roberts.

“The forensic examination is expected to cost £20k of taxpayers’ money. The three refused to call in the police and refuse to disclose any evidence.”

We spoke to a number of councillors, all of whom said they had no further details about the allegations relating to Dr Hanks and Mr Williams.

One said: “It is unclear who will be carrying out the forensic examination. Failing to provide information is not the best way to handle this situation. Suspending the City Director and Clerk is a very serious matter – it’s probably the most serious decision for councillors to make – yet the great majority of us are in the dark. Advice could have been sought from clerks at other councils, but we have not been told whether that has happened.”

Another councillor said: “It seems to me that the way this has been done is unconstitutional and possibly illegal.”

Letter

A letter written by Dr Hanks, the suspended City Director, has been sent to all councillors. It states: “By now, you will be aware that Emlyn Williams and I have been suspended on suspicion of gross misconduct. While I do not intend to comment on, or prejudice any investigation, there are procedural matters that I feel, as your Proper Officer, you should be aware of. I say Proper Officer, which I believe I still am technically, even if suspended, until I am officially notified otherwise.

“The reason I state this is that on the day I was suspended, the Deputy Director, in the presence of the Chair of Council, told me I am no longer the Council’s senior employee, which of course included Proper Officer.

“I understand that an emergency meeting of the Staffing Committee was called, with 24 hours notice and held on the morning of Wednesday July 15. As you know, council meetings need to be properly constituted, which includes giving three clear days’ notice, not including the day called, the day of the meeting or a Sunday or Bank Holiday. The Act does contain an exception to this regulation, which allows, in emergency situations, a council committee to meet. However, such meetings still must be properly constituted.

‘Challenged’

“The procedures adopted by Bangor City Council can and will be challenged on the following grounds:

1. The committee meeting was not properly constituted. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 clearly sets the parameters for Urgent Meetings, which include a provision that an Agenda must be published electronically as soon as it is called. No Agenda was published on the Council website, contravening these regulations.

2. Similarly, the Extraordinary Meeting held on July 16 was not properly constituted as the provision in the Act for Urgent meetings only applies to committees. Any meeting of full Council must comply with the three days’ notice.

3. As the decisions made at that meeting personally benefited a close friend and co-Director at MaesNiCLG and Hub co-worker, the Chair should have declared a personal interest and abstained. Did She?

4. What was the justification for an Urgent Meeting? As mentioned above, two hours after being suspended, I was commencing 12 days’ annual leave. Given that I was going to be away from the office and unable to influence anything, I will contend that there was no urgency. Why could the meeting not have been properly constituted, using the regulation three-days notice and publication of an agenda? Is it because it would allow more councillors to be present?

5. ACAS clearly states that it is best practice to inform an employee of why they are being suspended/investigated. I, despite asking, have been refused this information. I still have no idea why I have been suspended or what I am being investigated for. Is Bangor City Council now an employer which ignores ACAS guidelines, which are designed to be fair to both employee and employer?

6. The formal letter of suspension asks me if I would like to have any witnesses. How can I inform the council if I want any witnesses, when I don’t know what I am being investigated for? To my knowledge and belief, I have not committed any misconduct at Bangor City Council.

“As a note of background, which I believe is pertinent, six weeks ago, at our monthly personal development meeting, my deputy stated that she wanted my job. She claimed she was finding it hard to be a deputy, as that is not a position she is used to.

“The week before my suspension, I received a complaint about the behaviour of my deputy. I spoke to all the witnesses, and the day prior to my suspension, I furnished her with a formal letter of investigation. All documentation, including this letter and witness statements are on my work laptop. I had also begun an investigation into some of the Hub expenditures, which she was aware of. Whether these background matters are linked to my suspension, I will leave it to you to decide.

“As mentioned above, I was informed of this formal suspension less than two hours before I commenced my annual leave. This is the only time this year when I have booked to go away. I do not believe this is a coincidence. Not to mention the significant emotional and mental impact and uncertainty this suspension is having on myself and my wife; it has already completely destroyed any chance of our planned rest and relaxation. Does this council condone treating its staff that way?

“Or is the real reason that I have been suspended at this time, with little or no evidence of any wrongdoing in Bangor (as confirmed by ACAS and my trade union any wrongdoing from previous employment cannot be considered or used as evidence) and no information as to what I am being investigated for, merely to give authority to my deputy (and any investigators she appoints) to search blindly for whatever she/they can find, in the hope that it is enough to get rid of me? Are all the above elements linked?

‘Constructive dismissal’

“This situation already has all the hallmarks of a textbook case of constructive dismissal.

“As the staffing committee and full Council meetings were not properly constituted, any decisions made at said meetings are unlawful and are therefore null and void. Therefore, I expect to be notified that this unlawful suspension has been annulled by the time I was due to return to work from my annual holiday, on July 27.”

We made contact with Cllr Spence, one of the three councillors who suspended Dr Hanks and Mr Williams, and invited her to comment. She declined to do so.

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