Linda Wade's Response To The Questions Posed By This Blog To All The Candidates in the Earls Court By Election
As the by election in Earls Court on 16 September draws nearer, the blog is providing its readers with the Liberal Democrat candidate, Linda Wade's, responses to the questions posed to all candidates in the Earls Court by election. We are grateful to Linda Wade for taking the time to respond to these questions, and the blog welcomes her unambiguous condemnation of Barry Phelps' disgraceful conduct. However, readers of this blog will be aware (see the article entitled "More Of The Same"
posted on 25 August 2010), that Linda Wade failed to call for the resignations from the standards Committee of her friend, Jennifer Ware, and also the Chairperson, Sophia Lambert, for their respective failures to act over Jennifer Ware's conflict of interest.
1) Do you condemn former Conservative Councillor Barry Phelps for sexualising children by circulating images of young boys with smutty captions?
Yes.
2) Do you further condemn this because this was also done using the Council's email system?
Yes.
3) What position do you hold concerning the claiming of expenses by the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader of the Council, where the expenses involved cannot be clearly and directly connected with Council business?
There were particular expenses to do with overseas trips which were not paid out in accordance with the governing regulations. At a time when the Council was slashing funding from essential services, including from supporting housing funding to vulnerable residents in Mary Smith Court in Earl's Court, it is uncomfortable to see lavish trips being undertaken which had no discernible benefit to the taxpayers of Kensington & Chelsea. The worst thing is that much of the spending was undisclosed until FOI requests forced the Council to publish the details.
4) Do you agree that Cllr Cockell should pay back entertainment expenses ($185) claimed to entertain an "unknown person" to dinner in New York? The entertainment was at an upmarket restaurant in New York, "The Four Seasons", fashionable with celebrities and political notables in America. (The evidence of this claim is supported from information obtained from an FOI request.)
I think it is fair to expect the public to be reimbursed for expenses which did not benefit Kensington & Chelsea residents and which were claimed outside of the usual allowance scheme.
5) How do you propose to increase transparency and accountability from our elected representatives and leadership on the Council, including facilitating the providing of information to residents of how their Council Tax money is spent?
Since this incident, the Council now publishes more detail about its wider spending on its website. This is welcome. The Council should now ensure that expenses are only paid out in accordance with the governing regulations with supporting documentation to demonstrate legitimacy and value for money.
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