MP Bob Neill spoke against the serious problems linked with Isabella Freeman's conduct and role in Tower Hamlets Council

CLICK on image to view Video of MP's statement about serious crisis in Tower Hamlets Council

CONservative MP Bob Neill speaking against the serious problems linked with Isabella Freeman's conduct and role in Tower Hamlets Council

CLICK on image to view Video of MP's statement about serious crisis in Tower Hamlets Council 

FROM The official record of proceedings in the UK House of Commons, London, Wednesday 16 january 2013:

Quoted by AADHIKAROnline © Muhammad Haque Daily Ethical Commentary:

London Friday 1540 Hrs GMT

Friday 18 January 2013

Quoted by AADHIKAROnline © Muhammad Haque Daily Ethical Commentary:

"The monitoring officer of Tower Hamlets, Isabella Freeman, is also the assistant chief executive for legal services, and the monitoring officer is also the person who advises the mayor. There is now a situation in which the monitoring officer, who advises the mayor and polices the regime, regularly investigates complaints by a member of the mayor’s cabinet. On the other hand, complaints against members of the group who support the mayor have not been taken forward for investigation, which inevitably raises concerns as to who monitors the monitoring officers in such cases. In that case, the monitoring officer is herself in dispute with her employer—the authority—and there is apparently an industrial tribunal case ongoing, but the monitoring officer still sits in and carries out her functions, even though they involve councillors who may be witnesses to those proceedings.

Tower Hamlets has reached the extraordinary stage of members from several parties passing a motion to have certain disciplinary steps taken in relation to the monitoring officer. We might have thought that the monitoring officer would have withdrawn from the meeting at that point; instead, she insisted on remaining, and noted what was said by every member, which hardly gives the impression of an unbiased, open and transparent approach. Freedom of information requests in relation to only two of the complaints have revealed that some £6,000 of public money was spent on investigating a complaint against the leader of the Conservative group and that some £12,000 was spent in relation to a complaint alleged against the leader of the Labour group. No such complaints have been taken forward in the same way against the group that supports the mayor.

That may be a particularly egregious example. At the same time, however, members raised complaints with the monitoring officer about a highly partisan publication, East End Life, which is the subject of great controversy, and the monitoring officer responded that everything that the mayor had put in that publication was in order. The same monitoring officer gave advice that the mayor was not obliged to answer certain questions from members in the council in relation to the exercise of his functions