Council chief executive facing calls to launch bulling inquiry

A YORKSHIRE council is facing growing calls to launch an investigation into allegations that there is a culture of bullying in the organisation.

Ryedale councillors will be asked next week to instruct the authority’s chief executive to hold talks with trade unions, managers and staff to discover if there is a problem.

Questions about bullying have previously been posed by Ryedale councillors in recent months but pressure will be stepped up next week with an attempt to force the authority to conduct a formal inquiry.

Coun John Clark said: “There are a whole series of questionable incidents that warrant further examination to ensure that the council is treating its employees properly.

“This subject is clearly not taken seriously by senior management, otherwise it would have looked into during the last nine months since I first raised it in public.

“The council should not have rumours of bullying drifting around without investigating it. It is totally unacceptable this was first nine months ago and there has been no action reported to the council in that time.”

Coun Clark’s motion to be considered by Ryedale councillors at Thursday’s meeting says: “The issue of bullying has been raised at full council on at least three occasions.

“There has been no satisfactory response from the leader of the council.

“If there is bullying or a culture of bullying in any department(s) at Ryedale District Council it must be stopped.”

The motion calls for chief executive Janet Waggott to hold talks with union representatives, managers and employees.

Councillors also want to know how many times investigations have been carried out under the authority’s “harassment policy” and the outcomes.

There was no response to requests to comment from Ryedale Council.