Expense Claim Rejection Leads To Public Criticism of GBC’s Senior Officer

Published on: 13 Aug, 2019
Updated on: 20 Aug, 2019

GBC managing director James Whiteman alongside Paul Spooner when he was still council leader in October 2018

The former leader of Guildford Borough Council, Paul Spooner has “unfriended” GBC’s managing director, James Whiteman, and publicly criticised council officers for their handling of allowances and expenses issues.

Such public criticism of the most senior council officer is almost unheard of but Cllr Spooner is known for his uninhibited use of social media.

The Facebook post from Cllr Spooner criticising the handling of expense claims and the “shadow leader nomination”.

In a Facebook posting made on Friday (August 9) he claims “the person at the top” has failed to address two issues, the handling of expense claims and the nomination of a leader of the opposition or “shadow leader” a role Mr Spooner feels should be his. The position attracts an annual allowance over £5,000.

Corroborated reports reveal that Cllr Spooner has had expense claims rejected because they were for activities judged not to be commensurate with his present role as a leader of a nine-member political group at GBC.

In his criticism he says: “This is not the open democratic approach I sought over the past few years.”

Mr Whiteman was asked by The Guildford Dragon NEWS for his response to the “unfriending” and whether councillors and council officers should be Facebook friends. And the director of finance, Claire Morris was asked what was Cllr Spooner’s complaint about the way expenses claims are being considered?

But only the following statement was made: “Details of individual claims for councillor’s travelling and subsistence allowance are not published. The council publishes an annual statement setting out allowance claims by type, and councillor.

“No complaint has been received. Any complaints would be considered in accordance with the relevant policy.  The power to appoint members of the Executive is vested wholly and exclusively in the leader of the council. It is up to each individual how they choose to manage their own personal Facebook account.”

Cllr Joss Bigmore

Cllr Joss Bigmore is leader of the second-biggest political group, Resident for Guildford and Villages allied with a single member of the Green Party. Some had considered he should be nominated as leader of the opposition. But he also serves on the Executive which, it seems, Cllr Spooner considers rules him out as “opposition” and that the nomination and allowance should go to him as leader of the next biggest group, the Conservatives.

Cllr Bigmore said yesterday (August 12): “When I accepted a role in the Executive it was under the explicit understanding there was no formal coalition between our groups, neither R4GV nor the Liberal Democrats wanted to link our parties in this way.

“I don’t believe my place on the Executive compromises my group’s ability to oppose policies we think are not in the best interests of Guildford. As for the role of ‘Leader of the Opposition’ in this council, to my understanding, it isn’t defined in the constitution so it is not a ‘real’ role.

“Actions are far more important than titles and I hope the electorate will continue to see us progress our manifesto pledges through constructive opposition.

“Cllr Spooner seems to have forgotten that the members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (including R4GV and Lib Dems) voted him chair. That’s the most powerful role for a backbench councillor and comes with a very generous supplementary monetary allowance.”

A motion put forward by Cllr John Rigg (R4GV), “That the shadow leader’s Special Responsibility Allowance be not allocated in 2019-20” pending review by the Independent Remuneration Panel “in the context of the prevailing circumstances” was adopted by GBC on July 31.

Published council records show that since 2014 Cllr Spooner’s expenses claims have been much higher than all other councillors, most of whom claim no travel and subsistence expenses.

It is generally accepted that the role of leader requires more travel on council business than others but even in the year before he was leader he claimed £1,662, representing more than 50% of the total claimed by all councillors. His predecessor as council leader, Stephen Mansbridge, claimed no expenses during his tenure 2012-2015.

Since Cllr Spooner’s election in 2013, he has been paid more than £10,000 for expenses by GBC.

Cllr Spooner refuses to answer questions from The Guildford Dragon NEWS so we have been unable to obtain his response.

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