HTH watch out...................

[mk1]

Knowing what  our gang of council thugs  think about  anyone daring to criticise their self-enrichment/empire building  you can bet they are on to this.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-20909851



Rutland Council could be the first local authority to sue for defamation
One of the smallest local authorities in the UK could be the first to sue for defamation after a series of requests from a group of councillors.

Rutland County Council took legal advice over allegations made by three independents who call themselves Rutland Anti-Corruption Group (RACP).

Lawyers said the council's reputation had been damaged and suggested they could sue under the Localism Act 2011.

RACP denies doing anything wrong.

'Wild accusations'
The three councillors, Richard Gale, Nick Wainwright and David Richardson, said they had established RACP to hold the Conservative-controlled council to account on a number of issues.

But the leader of the council Roger Begy said the volume of requests for information was "costly and pointless", and, after a full council meeting in October, the authority commissioned a report by lawyers Bevan Brittan.

It advised the council had grounds to sue for defamation because several of the requests were made in emails to every councillor and damaged the council's reputation.

The lawyers added that some senior officers could potentially take individual legal action and also recommended that a number of emails be reported to police on the grounds of harassment.

The defamation action would be possible thanks to the Localism Act 2011 which grants local authorities the power to act like an individual.

Mr Richardson denied they had done anything wrong and said the group had to ask questions to carry out their job.

He added: "The fact is, we are elected by the people, we are elected by them to represent them and to do the best for them.

"We can only do that if we have the proper information in front of us."

But leader of the council Mr Begy said he wished to put a stop to the "costly and pointless" requests.

He said: "We have a group of people making wild accusations and costing our authority a great deal of money, trying to find something that they believe is there that isn't."

The report will be considered at a special full council meeting on Thursday.

[marky]

The effect of such actions is simply to shine a light where those starting the action would prefer it not to be shone - so bring it on, I say.
Just to summarise some of the things I've read about on HTH recently.

• We had CAB claiming that the dodgy accounts of Manor Residents were all down to a mistake by the Charity Commission and the the Charity Commission writing a letter to HTH stating that the complete opposite was true. As far as I know, CAB has so far refused to explain himself.
• We had Edwin Jeffries refusing to explain how they had calculated the £1m savings claim made on Labour's referendum leaflet
• Labour are now trying to ban secondary questions made by members of the public at council meetings.
• CAB and Wells are refusing to go public on what they said to the remuneration panel regarding council basic and special responsibility allowances.
• We had the planning application that wasn't at the Mayfair Centre
• The Peer Group report which HBC tried to sanitize in a Press Release after failing to come up with a way to bypass the FOI Act - we would never have gotten to the truth of it were it not for HTH

I better stop but I could go on......
I'm glad to see Rutland has its own HTH - the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.
 

[steveL]

This reminds me of Mallon's comment about 'urban terrorists' which was aimed at similar internet activity in Boro. I think Government, be it local or national, is struggling with the new sensation of being publicly scrutinised and the ease with which their activities can be publicised on the Internet.

The Chinese have the same problem and came up with a solution that I'm sure many of our own politicians would readily adopt if only they could get away with it.

[SRMoore]

This iss ridiculous as Labour wanting to ban Frosties (another story).

One of the things Eric Pickles wanted to see happen from the localism act was "for the silent army of armchair auditors to help identify where local authorities can make savings" (to paraphrase)

[marky]

It's a Tory Council in Rutland so maybe they should be reading the party newsletters. Isn't Rutland the only authority charging a higher council tax than Hartlepool? If so, it's hardly unexpected that people will be a bit miffed and asking questions.

[notenoughsaid]

Re Rutland Council..... This is not the first time activities in Hartlepool have been likened to Rutland.    The last council imposed Council Tax rise (about 4 yrs. ago ) Hartlepool along with Rutland and I believe Walton -on Thames was 4.9% ....the highest in the country despite the obvious differences in the locations and local conditions.   No wonder people have started taking a closer interest in what is happening to their cash.    Has anybody asked how much the Rutland Law firm charged for the advice.?   More waste no doubt and another nail in the coffin of democracy.

[mk1]

Is Shane proud his Party changed the law to allow this?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-20981759





Council to sue three of its own members in slur row

A Conservative-controlled council is to sue three of its own members claiming they have damaged its reputation.

Rutland County Council voted on Thursday to set aside £90,000 for legal action against Councillors Nick Wainwright, Richard Gale and David Richardson.

The three members of the Rutland Anti-Corruption group (RACP) are accused of using defamatory language in emails.

Council leader Roger Begy said it was a "black night for the council".

'Proper information'
In October a firm of lawyers was brought in to advise the council over a series of email requests by the RACP for information about the authority's actions.

Mr Begy told the BBC the requests were "costly and pointless".

"We have a group of people making wild accusations and costing our authority a great deal of money, trying to find out something that they believe is there that isn't," he said.

The legal advice claimed the authority could sue for defamation under the Localism Act 2011 which grants local authorities the power to act like an individual rather than a corporate body.

The allegedly defamatory statements were made in emails which every council member received.

It is understood some senior council officers have also been advised that they have grounds for legal action.

The authority was told a number of the emails could be construed as harassment and could be reported to the police.

But speaking to the BBC earlier this month, RACP member Mr Richardson denied the group's members had done anything wrong.

He said the group had to ask questions in order to carry out their job.

"The fact is, we are elected by the people, we are elected by them to represent them and to do the best for them.

"We can only do that if we have the proper information in front of us," said Mr Richardson.

[SRMoore]

I'm proud of my party for bringing in the localism act, yes. We have always been the party that trusts local government to make local decisions. Those decisions may not always be the best ones to take, as in this case, but the move to devolve powers to local government was the right thing to do.

The councillors involved in this case should use their own funds and not tax payers money for any legal grievance they may have. IMHO 

[mk1]

I'm proud of my party for bringing in the localism act, yes. We have always been the party that trusts local government to make local decisions. Those decisions may not always be the best ones to take, as in this case, but the move to devolve powers to local government was the right thing to do.

The councillors involved in this case should use their own funds and not tax payers money for any legal grievance they may have. IMHO

Cynics might say that allowing councils to sue people who complain is a nice way of pretending you are for openness whilst at the same time getting what you really want-to shut up all those who question their betters!

[craig finton]

I think this site has kept me sane over the many months that I've been reading it otherwise I might be thinking I was the only one who was questioning some of antics of the local carpetbaggers. If they want to have a pop at it then let them because I'll be the first stood at the barricade with my peashooter.

[mk1]

 Shane's views on Council critics:

One of the things Eric Pickles wanted to see happen from the localism act was "for the silent army of armchair auditors to help identify where local authorities can make savings" (to paraphrase)

I bet he has changed his tune on that one as well!

[stokoe]

Very well hunted out mk1.......btw whatever happened to that Marky? Or who did he become?

[akarjl2]

I'm proud of my party for bringing in the localism act, yes. We have always been the party that trusts local government to make local decisions. 

Glad you are proud of your party.

Are you proud of your drink driving convictions?