Council leader refuses requests to publish confidential report into former leader

Cllr Nick Kemp was cleared of any wrongdoing last month, after the council's Audit and Standards Committee considered an independent report into the complaint in private.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Mark Mitchell acknowledged the confidential nature of the investigation, but said it "would seem sensible that at least there should be some attempt to learn lessons from that process".

He went on to ask how the conclusions made by the report can be made available to the committee and others.

Cllr Mitchell is a member of the Audit and Standards Committee.

Responding to his question, Cllr Kilgour said: "An investigation into a complaint has to remain confidential. Both the person who has complained, the person who has been complained about, and other witnesses involved, have to be able to be confident that the information they have given is confidential.

"Our staff need to know that if they make a complaint, if they whistleblow, if they are asked to be interviewed because somebody else has made a complaint, that what they have said will remain confidential and not be published or released at the whim of some councillors who have decided they want to see a confidential report."

The complaint against Cllr Kemp was brought by an unnamed council officer last year. The former leader denied any wrongdoing from the outset of the complaint.

Law firm Bevan Brittan conducted the external investigation into the complaint, considering paragraphs in the council's Code of Conduct concerning respect, bullying and disrepute.

The investigating officer's confidential report and conclusions were considered by Newcastle's monitoring officer and two independent persons before the monitoring officer decided that they were satisfied with the investigating officer's conclusion and closed the matter.

The findings of the report were later presented to the Audit and Standards committee last week (30 September).

During the full council meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Kilgour confirmed that a separate independent inquiry into the council's culture is currently underway.

The inquiry will include input from the Local Government Association and its findings will be shared with all members.

Adam Carey