MARRIOTT: Open Letter To All Scarborough

An Open Letter to the Councillors and electors of the Borough of Scarborough from Mr Ben MARRIOTT, the “whistleblower” at the heart of the fraud and corruption “whitewash”, directly challenging Mrs Lisa DIXON’s version of events. In particular; “What you need to ask yourself is why is someone in Lisa Dixon’s position deliberately lying to elected Councillors”.

Read on . . .

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OPEN  LETTER  TO  ALL  IN  &  AROUND  SCARBOROUGH

Happy New Year to you all!

I thought that, by now, I could relax and enjoy my retirement after the relentless trauma of having to fight the local Council over issues that should never have arisen. I find that I cannot; and that more lies and deceit are being peddled.

Regarding the statement that has been put out to you all before Christmas by Mrs Lisa Dixon; I want to cover the points raised, forthwith:

1. The council remain disappointed in the Tribunal’s decision: Do they think three judges got this wrong – or that all their hard work in covering this up FAILED?
2. They had run their course with the legal side of things: It could not go any further. Their ‘reconsideration’ plea was a joke and they knew that. Even if they had gained anything from their ‘reconsideration’ it would not have altered the Judgment one bit.
3. Council legal fees: I read this with the contempt it deserves. £16.7k. Was this the last bill to the Q.C. – or the first? What about the Council’s own legal department’s internal expenditure, in particular Mr. Mark Robinson, who has spent nearly two years on this case, to protect the lies. Hours spent by Mr. Jim Dillon and Mr. Nick Edwards, and not forgetting Mrs Lisa Dixon herself? Then we have Alison Newman and, of course Elaine Blades, ‘just following orders’ – instead doing their professional jobs. They will of course reply “we would have paid them anyway”. Then we have Mazars investigation: Right or wrong, there will be a cost to the taxpayer. Then any fall out due to any employees being sacked for wrongdoing. Need I go on? All this because I told them that employees where misusing their positions. I wanted nothing out of this at all.
4. Confidentiality clause: This can only be summed up in one word, a lie – a deliberate lie. What you need to ask yourself is why is someone in Lisa Dixon’s position deliberately lying to elected Councillors. Proof: I have offers of settlement from the Council which show that every one of these had a confidentiality clause attached. My legal team pointed out that I would not sign a confidentiality clause and, moreover, me being a “whistle-blower”, they could not legally ask me to do so. The settlement agreement could have been an agreement between parties or through the Courts, via the Judges. I chose the Court, through the Judges, because I do not trust the Council. This, as was pointed out to both sides, means it is all in the public domain.
5. Mazars although a good audit company: I have a few questions to answer over this matter. As I see it, they have a conflict of interests. They have given a clean bill of health to SBC for years. We could also bring in, at this point, a few Freedom of Information requests about my “whistle-blowing”. They lied and said that no-one has “whistle-blown”, or only occasionally, and that was historical. This has legal implications to it that should be looked into.
6. Mazars investigation: I have heard about it; Councillors have been informed about it. Then can someone please tell the rest of us what the “scope” of this inquiry actually is? It should cover the investigation that I first reported. It should also cover the “cover-up” that followed; the Council Officers – Mr. Mark Robinson, Mrs Alison Newham and Elaine Blades. Why did they not do their professional jobs, but chose instead to follow orders. And what about the re-writing of policies and procedures – just in time for the court date? All of the above should have been sanctioned by Mazars the first time around.

Finally, I have taken steps to report this whole affair to the North Yorkshire Police. I feel I have no choice. Things have not changed as yet and I doubt that they will till Councillors and the public say “enough is enough”. The Council Officers you rely on to make value judgements are telling you what they want you to hear, rather than the truth. You are now aware of that facts, so what are you going to do about it, Councillors? I have, as mentioned, informed the Police about corruption which as already been proven. Officers have admitted to having had work done by contractors at favourable rates. Also, I have asked them to look into the assault that I have suffered through the lies and pressure they have conspired to put me under for years, causing me actual bodily injury, heart attacks, then followed by open-heart surgery.

Thank you all in advance for your patience and professionalism in this matter; and to say I was proud to serve SBC in my professional capacity. The Council does have a lot of good hard working and dedicated people working for it. However, the rotten apples need to be weeded out now.

Regards

Ben Marriott

Here follows the email to all Scarborough Borough Councillors from Mrs Lisa DIXON, Director of Legal & Democratic Services, to which Ben MARRIOTT’s letter refers.

From: Lisa Dixon <Lisa.Dixon@scarborough.gov.uk>
Date: 22 December 2016 at 15:43:52 GMT
To: Councillors Email Group <CouncillorsDG@scarborough.gov.uk>, Noticeboard <Noticeboard@scarborough.gov.uk>
Subject:Update on Employment Tribunal

Dear all

For information, the employment tribunal case involving one of our former employees, Mr Ben Marriott, concluded in Hull last week.

Although the Council remains disappointed by the Tribunal’s decision, to avoid any further court costs and implications on the public purse, the Council reached a settlement with Mr Marriott.

For the record, the settlement was for the Council to pay £95k to Mr Marriott.

Mr Marriott asked for a confidentiality clause in relation to the settlement but the Council refused this as the Council considered it important in the interests of transparency for the settlement to be made public.

The Council’s legal fees in the matter are approximately £16.7k.

The external investigation we have instigated with our external auditors, Mazars, is now underway and we await the investigation’s findings early in the New Year.

Kind regards

Lisa Dixon, Solicitor

Director

Scarborough Borough Council

Monitoring Officer

North York Moors National Park Authority

e: lisa.dixon@scarborough.gov.uk

t: 01723 232350 |   f: 0870 238 4160

w: www.scarborough.gov.uk

Office:  Town Hall, St Nicholas Street, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 2HG

Business Hours:  08.30 to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays

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