Open Letter to Newby & Scalby Town Councillors

The North Yorks Enquirer is happy to comply with a reasonable request, from 32 signatories, to present the following Open Letter to the present members of Newby & Scalby Town Council.

Regular readers will not be slow to recognise the emergence of a ‘pattern of behaviour’ becoming apparent at, inter alia,  Thornton-le-Dale Parish Council, Potto Parish Council and Whitby Town Council.

It is to be hoped that the rightful recipients of this Open Letter will bow to the legitimacy of the recent Parish Poll – at which only 19 electors supported the continued existence of the Council in its present form, thus morally dispossessing them of such mandate as they may have obtained in (or since) May 2022.

The Open Letter concludes by inviting a meaningful dialogue between representatives of the Council and of the Friends of Newby and Scalby Wellbeing Hub, for which the NYE is willing to provide a highly-experienced senior local government correspondent for the purpose of facilitating mediation – or not (as the parties may prefer) – in the interests of good order, fair play and an impersonal exchange of views, devoid of rancour or recrimination; a path forward in the spirit of democratic representation.

The table awaits . . .

OPEN LETTER

For the information of the Chairman and Councillors

Newby and Scalby Town Council

445b Scalby Road
SCARBOROUGH
YO12 6UA

Dear Councillors,

In the public interest of residents of Newby and Scalby:

This is an open letter to make Newby & Scalby Town Council aware of the position of Friends of Newby and Scalby Wellbeing Hub and find an amicable way for them to stand down in recognition of the Parish Poll vote of no confidence.

Since November 2023, Newby & Scalby Town Council have created public interest due to the council not following disciplinary policies and procedures relating to an allegation of bullying and subsequent action in making a member of staff redundant. Since the allegation of bullying in November 2023, the Council are now unnecessarily involved in litigation costing thousands of pounds over issues ranging from libel, false allegations and redundancy, all having a strong possibility of costing many thousands of pounds more of rate payers’ money.  Make no mistake these actions are as a direct result of council not following policies and procedures followed by untruths, it cannot be allowed to continue. Rather than resolve these issues the council continue to dig themselves a deeper hole.

We urge experienced councillors, and those who serve our area on North Yorkshire Unitary council to be active at the heart of their local communities, listening to concerns and responding to the needs of the public and advising their Newby and Scalby colleagues to stand down and make way for people who care about the community and the wellbeing of the public. It should be clear to you now that this issue is not going away

Due to the council blaming everything on the public, it is important to point out how we have got to where we are.

This situation is as a result of: –

• not following disciplinary policies and procedures
• condoning bullying
• making the hub manager redundant
• submitting dubious hub viability report
• stopping wellbeing services for the public
• isolating the public
• not timely publicising of meetings
• your unwillingness to answer questions from the public
• limiting and stopping the public forum
• reducing meetings from eleven to four per year
• only responding to questions put in writing
• unnecessarily hiring security guards for meetings and the costs incurred
• placing a barrier of tables between councillors and the public at meetings
• nepotism – (a married couple, one of whom is a council contractor, plus the husband of the clerk, and two that are fellow directors of a cleaning company is a concern)
• lack of compliance with the Nolan Principles and how business is conducted
• failing to resolve complaints from the public
• failed to ensure that fully independent advice was received from Maoni Consultingin regard to Woodsmith Foundation
• pursued legal action that was ultra vires (beyond council’s powers)
• thousands of pounds in litigation fees some ongoing with increasing costs

When monthly payment authorisations are conducted at a council meeting only a minority are aware of the full details of council spending, contrary to their own Financial Regulations.

This avoids the necessary scrutiny of our finances.

All other councils with the same clerk have a vastly different approach to the public, why?

Recently the council issued a press release stating,

“ Firstly, and very importantly, the Town Council does not condone bullying in the workplace.”

Unfortunately, it does; the (re-written) minutes of a Review and Staffing Committee dated 7^th December 2023 state;

“The previous resolutions  regarding the disciplinary of a member of staff be disregarded due to new evidence and information being received to justify that action.” 

This was over eight months ago, still no hint of any new evidence and if there was why wasn’t it put before a council disciplinary hearing set for 12th December 2023?

Since November 2023, you have seen the numbers attending your meetings and supporting Friends of Newby and Scalby Wellbeing Hub constantly increase, you have been made aware and witnessed public interest in returning wellbeing facilities at the hub, but ignore it.

Public interest is described as, the general welfare of the public that warrants recognition and protection; and (2) something in which the public as a whole has a stake;

The public interest clearly describes the role of Friends of Newby and Scalby Wellbeing Hub and clearly shows the council are working against it at parishioners expense.

Our position is to support the public interest that was clearly demonstrated in the recent parish poll as shown below.

The results of the parish poll are very clear, ignoring them will not benefit anyone. The consideration should be to run a council for the benefit of its public.  For clarity the results are: –

YES – 558 votes  96.71%

NO –     19 votes     3.29%

The turn-out was     7.14%

Nineteen people voting for the council is a loud and clear vote of no confidence, it displays a total lack of support, however on the other hand your opposition received 96.71% of the vote, clearly identify public interest in replacing the current council and replacing it with people who care for the community and to restore much valued wellbeing services.

To facilitate change we are prepared to work with you in the public interest to facilitate you leaving office in good grace as a matter of urgency.

Our proposal at this stage is an offer to meet with the chairman and one other at a mutually suitable time, date and location to move our proposal forward.

We look forward to hearing from you by Wednesday 28th August 2024.

Should you not respond to our invitation to meet we suggest that you book rooms for your September meeting capable coping with a large number of people.

Yours faithfully,

Parishioners of Newby and Scalby.

NOTE

The 32 signatories to this letter are not shown for security reasons; however they can be viewed under conditions that satisfy their confidentiality.