Cllr Folkes: Leader's response

Following my letter to the Leader of the Council I met with him this week.

He has assured me that the review of the Cllr Folkes matter will be conducted independently and will shortly get under way.

I do not know why this has taken so much time but the administration now needs to get on with it.

The Leader has confirmed that if any new information is available about this matter then, if it is provided to the Council,  the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) can decide whether the cross service Committee (which includes the police) which made the original decision should be reconvened to consider it.

I am sure the LADO's decision on referral to the Committee should also be covered by the review.

Cllr Folkes has indicated that senior Liberal Democrat colleagues on Cornwall Council have seen evidence of his innocence and that he will be applying to rejoin the party at local and national level.   Any evidence that Cllr Folkes can produce to the Council which suggests that the Committee reached the wrong conclusion would be helpful.
  
It would be strange in the extreme if the Deputy Leader of Cornwall Council has access to evidence which leads him to a contrary conclusion to that of the Leader.  They must both be able to see the same information and they both can’t be right if they come to different conclusions.

I hope that when the outcome of the review is published the fog will clear.