Sefton councillor probed over irregularities

Dec 8 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

Conservative Debi Jones with Antony Gormley's Another Place statues _240

A LEADING Conservative councillor is to be investigated by the Standards Board for England after she met a senior official to discuss how to bid for council contracts.

Cllr Debi Jones, who represents Sefton’s Manor ward, was reported to the board last month while Alan Moore, deputy chief executive of Sefton Council, was suspended.

The two events were apparently connected but until now it was not known how.

The Daily Post understands Cllr Jones, who works in freelance PR, started work for Liverpool firm Ampersand on a freelance basis just a few days before the meeting in September.

Cllr Jones strenuously denies any wrongdoing and there is no suggestion that the company has done anything wrong.

Last night, the board confirmed it had launched an investigation into allegations that Cllr Jones, who is also the Conservative Parliamen- tary candidate for Sefton Central, had broken the councillors’ Code of Conduct potentially in four areas.

They are: that a member must not compromise the impartiality of a council employee; a member must not bring their office/ authority into disrepute; a member must not use their position improperly to secure an advantage/disadvantage for themselves or an associate; and influencing matters in which the member has a prejudicial interest.

Last night, she said: “I went to see Mr Moore with a colleague of a company I represent to inquire about how a company goes about the tendering process.

“I merely wanted to know what the process was for future reference.

“I spoke to the legal department beforehand to advise them of what I wanted to do, and, as far as I was concerned, all was in order.

“I have been overwhelmed with the support I have received from all parties.

“I feel I am being used as a political pawn.”

Emma Blackmore, managing director of Ampersand, said: “Debi Jones is not an employee of Ampersand, but is highly regarded as an outstanding member of the community, full of integrity and honest.

“It is sad that, once again, in-fighting and witch hunts within Sefton MBC have spilled out from the corridors of power.

“We are aware that all of Debi Jones’s actions were completely cleared first by Sefton MBC’s own legal executive department.”

Meanwhile, Mr Moore remains suspended and independent investigators were to be brought in to look into the matter.

The suspension of Mr Moore and the reporting of Cllr Jones to the Standards Board followed a fall-out between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives and the Labour who teamed up in a bungled attempt to offer chief executive Graham Haywood early retirement or redundancy.

vickyanderson