Three Green councillors have uncovered new information suggesting that school transport appeal panels may have been decided along party lines, rather than independently. They have asked the Monitoring Officer to investigate the matter, and to establish whether standards have been breached.
The information came to light when Cllr Warneken (Green) submitted a Freedom of Information request to understand why rules had changed. Amongst the Council’s response was an email between two councillors which gave the impression that decisions may have been made along party lines.
Cllr Warneken and fellow Greens Andy Brown and David Noland felt that they had no choice other than to raise this with the Monitoring Officer Barry Khan, who has not yet responded.
Cllr Arnold Warneken (Green):
I felt a moral obligation to raise concern with the Monitoring Officer.
I have asked him to scrutinise this email, investigate whether political influence has affected decision making, and to re-confirm that all appeals are conducted in a completely non-partisan way.
Until this has been investigated, it is not appropriate to share more details.Having supported families during seven appeals, I have witnessed first-hand how very upsetting the appeal process is for families.
We must be sure that people who have to go through this ordeal are being listened to without bias, and that decisions are made fairly.
Cllr David Noland (Green):
As the consultation predicted, this computer-says-no situation is leading to a huge amount of appeals. If officers were directed to use their discretion, many could be avoided.Instead, there is a kind of ’see you in court’ approach, where parents have to go through this very formal and intimidating process to be heard.
The councillors on the appeal panel vote to decide who gets a place on the bus.
So, it’s incredibly important that they do the right thing for the child, based on the evidence.
If there’s even the faintest risk of other forces at play, we must call it out for scrutiny.
It’s not a nice thing to do, to question a colleague’s partiality. But it’s the right thing to do.
Cllr Andy Brown (Green):
Decisions on individual appeals need to be made on the basis of the facts.
Where is the justice if they are made solely on the basis of political loyalty, regardless of the evidence?
