Newcastle Council confirms bullying complaint against ex-leader could be sent to external investigator

Newcastle City Council has yet to confirm how it will handle a complaint made against Nick Kemp by a senior officer, but said on Monday the matter could be referred for an external investigation

A bullying complaint against Newcastle’s former council leader could be referred to an outside investigator, local authority officials have confirmed.

Opposition councillors questioned civic centre chiefs on Monday about Newcastle City Council’s complaints rules, after the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that a senior council officer had made a bullying accusation against Nick Kemp. Coun Kemp, who resigned as the city’s Labour leader on September 20, has said that he strenuously denies the allegation made by investment and growth director Michelle Percy and believes there is “no case to answer”.

After news of the complaint first emerged, Newcastle’s Liberal Democrat opposition called for an independent inquiry into the political culture at the top of the council. It is yet to be confirmed whether or not a full investigation into Ms Percy’s complaint will be carried out, while Karen Kilgour is expected to be installed as the new council leader this week. However, members of the authority’s audit and standards committee pressed for answers about the process on Monday and were told that there is scope for a complaint to be referred to an external figure.

Liberal Democrat Pauline Allen said members were “all aware that there is at least one outstanding complaint” and “we have had concerns about it, that it should be an independent inquiry”. The Parklands ward councillor asked if the council had the ability to appoint an investigator from outside the authority and the North East to handle a complaint if it was deemed “serious enough” and “necessary”.

John Softly, the council’s monitoring officer and assistant director of legal services, replied that the complaint remains under consideration and said he could not comment further on it. But he confirmed: “I can’t comment on specific complaints while they are ongoing. But in terms of the general process of dealing with complaints, the first step is to decide whether or not an investigation is required in respect of the complaint.

"Then it is a question for the monitoring officer to decide how that should proceed. That could be an internal or external investigation, but it will depend on the circumstances.”

Mr Softly added that the decision on whether to proceed to a full investigation would be made in consultation with the council’s independent persons. Leslie Watson, the independent chair of the audit and standards committee, said he had been given assurances by Mr Softly that the proper procedures were being followed.

At the same meeting on Monday afternoon, Lib Dem Greg Stone highlighted a list of 20 questions for public sector leaders sent in an open letter last year by Lord Evans, the chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. They include questions surrounding how bodies encourage a “speak up” culture and whether senior figures are “listening and responding well to concerns that are raised directly with them”.

Coun Stone said Lord Evans’ points about ethics are “something we should be asking ourselves” and suggested that the council answer all 20 questions and publish the responses, which the committee agreed with.

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