Row erupts over FOI request into mayor’s expenses
Counter-claim into ‘bullying’
A ROW has broken out among Havant councillors over Freedom of Information (FOIs) on the mayor’s expenses which included the purchase of a Christmas elf costume – and his counterclaim that he has been the victim of an harassment and bullying attack.
The discord has led to one councillor being sacked from a position of responsibility and another threatening to step down.
FOI requests submitted to Havant Borough Council by a former Havant Conservative Party deputy chairman have sparked the internal conflict.
However, mayor Prad Bains, Conservative ward councillor for the Hart Plain ward, insisted he has done nothing wrong and is instead being targeted by a ‘circle of harassment’.
Cllr Bains said: ‘I don’t want to play the victim card but unfortunately I have been the victim of a harassment and bullying attack.’
A complaint has been made against him this mayoral year, including concerns raised about his alleged treatment of staff and over his use of the chains of office and their transportation to official events.
The row has seen Cllr David
Keast stripped of his position as chair of licensing after a fall out with council leader Michael Wilson in which Cllr Keast challenged why, in his view, the complaints had not been investigated satisfactorily.
Cllr Keast said: ‘It’s about treating people as they should be treated, and justice in this case has not been done.’
In emails seen by The News, Cllr Narinder Bains, the mayor’s mother, threatens to step down from the party, citing ‘ongoing bullying’ of her son as the reason.
In a message to the Conservative group, Cllr Bains states that her son will not be giving up on his Hampshire County Council aspirations and calls for an end to the ‘childish campaign’ against him.
The Mayor said he believes the situation is ‘linked to targeted personal harassment attacks’.
He said: ‘People will try and spin the truth to their own agenda to try and get some sort of reaction.
‘It just goes to show that people will go to any length to discredit or tear down someone who’s been so proactive in the community, really jumped into every possible thing they could have done this year.
‘I get the impression that a tiny minority of people don’t want to see a young, diverse, local community representative doing well and being successful.’
A spokesman from Havant Borough Council said: ‘The council takes all complaints seriously and considers these carefully to ensure fairness for all parties.
‘For this reason, it's not the council's policy to comment on complaints about councillors currently being investigated.’
I don’t want to play the victim card but I have been the victim of harassment... Prad Bains