Another Sorrow for West Lindsey's Liberal Democrats

West Lindsey's Liberal Democrats have been saddened by news that a popular district councillor passed away earlier this week.

Cllr. Melvyn 'Mel' Starkey, Liberal Democrat (Gainsborough East Ward), served as both a district and town councillor for many years. He was first elected to West Lindsey District Council in 1987 and previously had a career in local government within the authority. 

He was extremely well known both for his job of being a postman for Royal Mail and also in his work as both a town and district councillor.

Deputy Leader of the West Lindsey Liberal Democrat Group said:

"We have all be so saddened to hear of the untimely and sudden death of Mel Starkey.  In his passing West Lindsey has lost a very able servant of the people and the council. 

"Always a Liberal Democrat, he wasn’t one to wear his politics on his sleeve and was well respected by all members in the chamber across the political divide. 

 "Mel leaves a family of whom he was justly proud and our thoughts are very much with them. We will all miss him and his ready wit and style of being a councillor."

Lib Dem Council Crisis Worsens

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the problems facing Gainsborough Town Council, currently run by a Liberal Democrat administration. 


A review of the council’s governance has cost £4,000 and with a string of resignations forcing by-elections, caused by the resignation of councillors who simply could not face the ‘maladministration’ and ‘embarrassing level of incompetence’, the council is in real trouble. Some have even been calling for the authority to be abolished or opt into special measures; with West Lindsey District Council taking over.

The crisis has got so bad that an urgent review of the authority’s finances has been undertaken by the finance team at West Lindsey District Council. So perilous is the position that it is understood they have only around £2,000 as a reserve.

Councillors met last week to approve an revised budget to make emergency cuts. Staff hours are being cut, community grants have been suspended and all areas of the council’s expenditure are being reviewed to see where money can be clawed back.

Financial Services Manager, Mr. Russell Stone, at West Lindsey District Council gave a presentation to Town Councillors on the current state of the books. He said it was not clear how much the council had overspent, but that the dwindling of reserve funds highlighted the seriousness of the situation, leaving less than £2,000 in contingency funds.

"The reserves the council has had have been depleted over the last four years or so through sustained overspending in that period to the tune of about £100,000."

The Gainsborough Standard reports that he told councillors that immediate action was needed to prevent the authority sliding into a fifth year of overspending.

"The council should be holding reserves of around £50,000. That is not the level we have at the moment… At the start of the year it was about £8,000… That raises concerns about what is going on around financial management."

Mr. Stone said weeks of work had already been done to present a balanced budget for the rest of the year and stressed that any excess spending would alter the current position, and there is no contingency.

"Any unplanned spends like creditors we are not aware of or elections occurring, these figures will change… As a council you budgeted for one election and we have had three already which has cost an additional £10,000."

A review will now look to remove non-essential council spending and find more ways of generating income. Staffing alone costs the Gainsborough Town Council around £300,000 a year – by far the largest area of spending in its budget.  A review of how the town’s cemeteries are run will also cut costs. Mr. Stone revealed the council had been spending twice as much on its two cemeteries as it generates in income from them. Amenities like Roses Sports Ground, Marshalls Sports Club and Richmond Park are also to be reviewed. Spending on grants, events, Christmas lights and the Town Centre Partnership might have to be reined in. Mr. Stone warned councillors that:

"There aren’t any quick fixes. You need to take action now… Hopefully in two or three year’s time we will be back on a sound footing."

Cllr. Paul Key, who chairs the Management and Finance Committee is reported to have said: 

"It gets my goat when you read people on social networking sites pulling down the Lib Dem party, when it is not the Lib Dem party that was in control from 2008 – 2011."

Cllr. Key is correct, but the lamentable situation has been exacerbated by the Liberal Democrat administration that took control of the council in 2011. A reduction in the authority’s portion of the Council Tax – known as the precept – of 3.8%, was heralded at the time, by the Liberal Democrats as a proud achievement: The consequence is that the decision has destabilised the financial base of the authority. 
Mrs. Pearl Banyard, who was the Mayor of Gainsborough during 2008/9, who resigned as a Councillor earlier in the year owing to ill-health, speaking to the Gainsborough Standard, said ‘everything was alright’ when she was Chairman the Finance Committee.

"The Lib Dems have had control of the budget for the last two years. They threw out the clerk’s budget in favour of their own."

Gainsborough By Elections Leave Lib Dems in Control

Thursday saw two by elections conducted for Gainsborough Town Council, as previously mentioned on this blog (here).

West Lindsey District Councillor Mick Tinker, Liberal Democrat, as expected, won the contest in the Gainsborough East ward with 265 votes, a majority of 140 over the United Kingdom Independence Party's John Bishop. Independent, Richard Banyard came third with 61 and James Plastow forth with 49.

Top: Gainsborough East ward result.
Below: Gainsborough South West ward result

Meanwhile in the Gainsborough South West ward John Butler ('Gainsborough Residents Concerns and Issues') won with 303 votes to Independent's Timothy Davies' 121.

In the East ward contest the Liberal Democrats vote was down 21 percentage points, whilst the Independent vote was up 2 percentage points and the non-aligned vote was down 5 percentage points. The United Kingdom Independence Party, in there first showing in the ward cut a 25 percent slice of the vote; this compares somewhat unfavourably with the 43 percent showing their candidate achieved in the North West ward contest back in April, earlier this year.

In the South West Ward Contest John Butler's credible win with 71 percent gives a clear mandate from the local electorate. Timothy Davies meanwhile increased his share of the vote by 6 percentage points up from the twenty-three percent he received at the by election for the South West ward in March, four months prior.

The result of the by elections mean the Liberal Democrats lost a seat in the South West ward, as they didn't field a candidate, and in the East ward they picked up a seat from the non-aligned councillors. They remain with a majority of four.

Gainsborough Deputy Mayor Fined by Magistrates

Town Councillor David Manning, Liberal Democrat (South West ward), was ordered to pay a £400 fine, £15 victim surcharge and £43 court costs by Lincoln Magistrates’ Court. He also took 6 points on his licence. The offence was ‘failing to identify the driver of a vehicle’.

The court dealt with the matter in Cllr. Manning’s absence. The fine has attracted criticism from some in the town, and calls for Cllr. Manning to explain himself, reports the Gainsborough Standard.

Former Liberal Democrat Town Councillor Robin Perry, who now sits as an Independent, has complained to West Lindsey District Council, claiming that Cllr. Manning’s behaviour had brought his position and the council into disrepute.

In a letter seen by the paper, Cllr. Perry said: 

"I believe he has broken the Councillor’s Code of Conduct."

Cllr. Perry suggests he had also broken four of the ten general principles which councillors should abide by - honesty and integrity, openness, a duty to uphold the law, and leadership.

Cllr. Manning, is reported to have said:

"The fine was in relation to a vehicle I used to own, which was caught speeding after I had sold it." 

"I was summoned to court for the speeding offence, but I replied saying I did not know who the driver was, as I had sold the car."

Cllr. Manning is a retired car salesman and stated he had filled in all the relevant paperwork for the Driver Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) required to transfer registration of the car.

"I know what I am doing and I’m always meticulous with my record keeping so I don’t know what has gone wrong." 

"If I had been driving the vehicle and been speeding I would have got three points. But as it is I’ve been given six."

Commenting on the complaint that had been made against his conduct, Cllr. Manning said:

"It has been blown out of all proportion."

A spokesman for West Lindsey District Council stated it could not comment on individual cases, but that it would continue its support to ensure Gainsborough Town Council remained a 'healthy, fair and democratic local authority'.

EXCLUSIVE: Lib Dem Council in Crisis

It was not too long ago, last year, that Gainsborough's Liberal Democrats were proud to announce that they had secured a majority on Gainsborough Town Council, after otherwise disastrous local election results for West Lindsey District Council - knocking them back to their lowest number of district councillors since 1992.

They got off to a flying start, suspending all committees to conduct a governance review (rumoured to be costing the authority several thousand pounds) and then later announcing a cut of 3.8%, in the Town Council's portion of the Council Tax for 2012/13, at the start of 2012. However, this momentum has stalled. Now the Council is in Crisis - with calls for the authority to be abolished.

In January the authority had it's first resignation.  Cllr. Mrs. Pearl Banyard, Non-Aligned (Gainsborough East Ward), who was first elected in 1996, and who resigned on grounds of ill health.  A by-election was called and Cllr. Sean Brennan, Non-Aligned (East Ward) elected.

Then in March Cllr. Ms Julie Nicolson, Liberal Democrat (North West Ward) resigned for reasons unknown.  The minutes of the subsequent Town Council meeting merely mention, perhaps tactfully, the fact of it, but not the substance.  On 26th April Cllr. Dave Dobbie, Liberal Democrat (North West Ward) was elected.

As April came to a close, Cllr. Robin Perry, Liberal Democrat (North West Ward) - who had replaced Cllr. Dobbie on the Council in August 2011, because post election paperwork had not been properly submitted - resigned from the Liberal Democrat party.

Cllr. Perry now sits as an Independent.   According to the Gainsborough Standard he no longer saw eye-to-eye with the party and claimed 'bullying' tactics were being used to make councillors toe the party line. He said:

"Being a councillor is about the residents of Gainsborough and they should come first, not our own personal agendas."

Then, only days later, just prior to the Town Council's Annual Meeting, on Tuesday, 7th May 2012, two councillors resigned. The first, and most dramatic, was Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Gainsborough Town Council, Cllr. Trevor Young, Liberal Democrat (South West Ward).

A spokesman for Gainsborough Town Council confirmed his shock resignation stating:

"Councillor Young handed his notice of resignation to us on Tuesday at 4pm stating personal and professional reasons."

Cllr. Young, who continues to represent the South West Ward on West Lindsey District Council, said the Town Council was 'drowning' after 'years of previous mismanagement', reported the Gainsborough Standard.  He said that despite the £4,000 governance review aimed at improving the council, there was still a 'lack of commitment to change'.

"Less than half the councillors and officers turned up for the workshops."

He also said there was a lack of openness and transparency between officers and councillors, which had created 'major concerns' over financial issues.

"No-one on that council knows if the accounts show significant over spending or under spending at any one time.  

"The only option, I believe, is for the council to self opt into special measures, so that the district council can take over for 12-24 months

"This council is in crisis. Other bodies desperately need to intervene to get it back on track."

Meanwhile, Cllr. Brennan joined Cllr. Young in resigning. He stated that his 'personal integrity' would not have allowed him to stay.

"I was motivated to stand for election by a desire to serve my local community."

Cllr. Brennan said in the short period he had served (six weeks), he had become convinced the public body was 'a horrifically poor waste of public resources'.

"The only way value for money can be achieved is by the town council being abolished." 

"In the meetings I have attended I have seen pure maladministration and an embarrassing level of incompetence."

 Two by-elections have now been called for Thursday, 12th July 2012.  In the East Ward contest there are four candidates:

• Richard Charles Banyard (Independent)
• John William Beaver (UKIP)
• James Alexander Plastow (Non Aligned)
• Michael Tinker (Liberal Democrat)

Mr. Michael Tinker, serves as both a District and County Councillor for Gainsborough and so is widely expected to win with a comfortable margin. However, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) are eager to secure a by election win - even on to a first tier council  - There local Party Chairman, Mr. Nick Smith recently wrote, encouraging activists:

"John Beavers campaign will kick off with leafleting on Sunday 1st July at 2pm this is to catch the postal voters which get their votes on the 3rd July. 

"Followed up by leafleting on Tuesday the 3rd July".

They both have the potential to take the seat.

Meanwhile, In the South West Ward contest there is a straight fight between two candidates:

• John Butler (Gainsborough Residents Concerns and Issues)
• Timothy Mark Davies (Independent)

Little is known about John Butler and the 'Gainsborough Residents Concerns and Issues' name, is not a party but a description.  Mr. Davies is a former Town Mayor and is seeking a likely return to the authority. Either candidate has the potential to be successful, what is surprising is that in a ward which went solidly Liberal Democrat in May 2011 the party has not managed to field a candidate.

In conclusion there are significant difficulties being experienced by Gainsborough Town Council.  Both from internal factors, such as the machinations of the ruling Liberal Democrat group and mistrust of the authority's staff by councillors, and external factor such as dwindling public support for the council by the residents of Gainsborough.

For the Liberal Democrats the impact of failings, within and without, of Gainsborough Town Council is the loss of credibility with the local electorate.  Gainsborough Town Council is the only authority locally they can point to and demonstrate what the hallmark of a Liberal Democrat administration is. Looking at the current situation in Gainsborough perhaps the politicisation of the Council is nothing to be proud of.