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Portfolio Holder for Waste and Communications still has questions to answer [July 14th 2005]
The Leader of the Conservative Group on Hertsmere Borough Council, Councillor Neil Payne, has refused to ask for the resignation of the Portfolio Holder for Waste and Communications, Councillor Morris Bright.
In a letter to Leon Reefe, Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor Payne states that in his view Councillor Bright had done nothing wrong.
The Labour Group on the Council asked for Councillor Bright's resignation after they alleged he had abused his position as the Councillor responsible for recycling and Council communications.
Leon Reefe said, "The Conservative Group Leader is standing by his colleague, which is nothing less than I would expect from someone with Councillor Payne's integrity. However I think he is trying to defend the indefensible".
"What remains unanswered is why, if the MORI report was deemed important enough to warrant a press release, was it not deemed important enough to distribute to all Councillors and the public?"
"The press release was published on the 6th July, the same day as the Housing and Environment Scrutiny Committee was meeting. This committee has responsibility scrutinising the Council's record on waste and re-cycling. A copy of the MORI report was not available for this meeting, although it had already been available to Councillor Bright for a full eight days."
Now that the Labour Group has had a chance to scrutinise the MORI study it is clear that the press release bears little relation to the contents with regards to recycling across the Borough.
What the study does reveal is that most people would recycle more if the Council collected a wider range of Items. This is exactly what the Labour Group has been calling for. Furthermore this report is not and could never be seen as an endorsement of the Council's performance on re-cycling.
Leon Reefe continued, "Nearly half of the press release has been taken up with quotes from Councillor Bright. That's not news, that's someone just preening himself and using the Council's PR Department to do it."
"We would like to know why this press release was prepared and published before all Councillors had a chance to view the MORI report's findings? Exactly who was allowed to see the MORI report before the press release was prepared and published?"
"Until these questions have been satisfactorily answered we believe that Councillor Bright has to account for his abuse of Executive power."
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