Walton Society

Councillor Phelps Penry    The Walton Society does not normally pass public comment on accusations made by other Parties. However, following an item printed by the Conservative Party about one of our Councillors, we have decided to set the record straight. During the County Council Election campaign in 2009, Councillor Phelps Penry had his Surrey County Council email address printed on the back of an election leaflet. A complaint was made about this to SCC by Borough Councillor Rachel Lake who was contesting the same seat and lost by 55 votes. As we have already stated in the local press, the Walton Society had no objection to that complaint being made. Councillor Phelps Penry cooperated fully with the subsequent inquiry, admitted the error, apologised and accepted the formal censure placed on him by the Standards Committee. That should have been the end of the matter, but Councillor Rachel Lake went on to demand his resignation over the matter and subsequently her Party has produced somewhat sensational headlines over the matter and distorted what happened.


We reprint below the actual decision made by the Standards Committee.
 
DECISION OF STANDARDS COMMITTEE COMPLAINT AGAINST MR TOM PHELPS-PENRY 

Surrey County Council Standards Committee has found that Mr Tom Phelps-Penry, elected Member for the Walton division, has failed to comply with the Council's Code of Conduct for Members and censured Mr Phelps-Penry for the failure. In June 2009, Surrey County Council's Standards Committee received a complaint alleging that Mr Phelps-Penry had used his County Council email address on election material, in breach of Paragraph 6(b) which provides that: "You must, when using or authorising the use by others of the resources of your authority - (i) act in accordance with your authority's reasonable requirements; (ii) ensure that such resources are not used improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes)". On 20 November 2009, a Sub-Committee of Standards Committee heard that Mr Phelps-Penry had admitted that he had used the County Council email address on his election leaflet and had apologised. In considering what sanction to impose, the Sub-Committee took into account that Mr Phelps-Penry had admitted his error, co-operated with the investigation and apologised. The Sub-Committee agreed that the most appropriate sanction was a formal censure. Mr Phelps-Penry has the right to appeal against the finding that he has failed to comply with Surrey County Council Members'Code of Conduct.