Swaffham town councillor Graham Edwards barred from council buildings after bullying claims emerge
A town council has been rocked as one of its members was sanctioned after bullying claims emerged - while its clerk has also left her position.
Cllr Graham Edwards has been removed from Swaffham Town Council committees to “protect staff from further harassment and bullying”.
Separately, town clerk Helen Carrier has left her role.
Mayor Lindsay Beech has described her first month in the role as “challenging”.
An extraordinary meeting was held by Swaffham Town Council about grievances made by its staff regarding Cllr Edwards.
Councillors voted for him to be removed from all committees, sub-committees and working groups that he was part of.
However, Cllr Edwards does remain a councillor at Swaffham and is still allowed to attend meetings held at the town hall.
He has had a lengthy list of restrictions placed on him, including being barred from all council offices - apart from when attending council meetings.
This is the only forum where councillors have a statutory right to membership and attendance.
A spokesperson from the town council told the Lynn News that the authority appointed an independent HR consultant to investigate the grievances made by council staff, who have not been named.
The spokesperson said the investigator’s report of findings will remain confidential.
Meanwhile, in unrelated matters, the former town clerk, Helen Carrier, has left her position. The town council is currently recruiting for somebody to fill her position.
A spokesperson also confirmed that anonymous allegations made about Ms Carrier resigning over “misappropriated funds” are “totally unfounded”.
The council has insisted that there have been no accusations of misappropriated funds.
“The town council has a duty of care to its staff and will investigate any malicious accusations thoroughly,” the spokesperson added.
Councillors held an extraordinary meeting at the end of May, with Cllr Edwards present, to discuss the recommendations that the HR and governance committee made regarding the independent investigation report.
A total of eight councillors voted for the submitted grievances to be accepted and upheld, while three councillors voted against.
Eight councillors also voted for Cllr Edwards to be removed from the four committees he was on - assets and open spaces, HR and governance, asset building management group, and Swaffham Hamond educational charity.
Three councillors voted against this.
Members also voted in favour of barring Cllr Edwards from council offices, other than to attend council meetings.
If he requests an in-person meeting, this can only be done via a pre-arranged appointment in the presence of at least two members of staff.
He has also been restricted in terms of who he can send emails to. He can only send them to the proper officer, who will decide if they can be forwarded to the appropriate person.
The proper officer, a role usually held by the town clerk, will also maintain a record of interactions and incidents with Cllr Edwards.
Addressing these matters at Wednesday’s full council meeting, mayor Lindsay Beech said it has been a “challenging first month” in her new role.
“We must fulfil our duty of care to our employees,” she said.
“These actions have not been taken lightly. I hope we can draw a line over this episode and move on.”
Cllr Edwards’ arrangements will be reviewed annually with a view to either relaxing, modifying or maintaining them.
If he refuses to accept or comply with the actions set out, an injunction could be set out on Cllr Edwards to enforce compliance. If he fails to do this, it could be classified as a criminal offence.
The town council voted in favour of calling out any future unacceptable behaviour in its meetings.
