Sefton Council trio to decide on future of senior officer

May 6 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

THE future of one of Merseyside’s most senior council officers will rest in the hands of a trio of Sefton councillors, the Daily Post can reveal.

Alan Moore, Sefton’s suspended deputy chief executive, will be called before the behind-closed-doors Employment Procedure Committee on May 20.

Three senior councillors will spend two days sifting through evidence compiled during a five month investigation.

Cllrs Peter Dowd, the Labour group leader, Tony Robertson, Liberal Democrat leader, and Conservative member Peter Papworth will decide whether Mr Moore is guilty of any wrongdoing.

Mr Moore was suspended in November amid allegations a meeting he had with Manor ward councillor Debi Jones had breached regulations.

Cllr Jones was exonerated by the Standards Board for England two weeks ago.

But it is thought the remit of the investigation – spear-headed by Vic Hewitt of the North West Employers’ Association – was widened at the request of Sefton chief executive Graham Haywood.

The Liverpool Daily Post reported in February that Mr Moore’s conduct as director for regeneration is also under scrutiny. Mr Hewitt interviewed Bootle landowners affected by the Klondyke compulsory purchase order (CPO) – overseen by Mr Moore – earlier this year.

Mr Moore told the Daily Post: “A date has been set.

“I think the decision about whether I will come back to work will rest with the members of the committee.

“I know all the allegations to be put to me and they will be robustly defended.”

The Daily Post also understands one Bootle landowner made a complaint to Merseyside Police about Mr Moore and the CPO.

A spokesperson said the police looked into the allegations but are “satisfied there is no criminal case to answer” and will not be investigating further.

While clearing Cllr Jones, who is also the Conservative’s prospective Parliamentary candidate for the Sefton constituency, the Standards Board report pointed to a potentially errant email sent to seven Sefton officers.

The report reads: “The complaint alleged that, on September6, 2007, Cllr Debi Jones met Sefton Council’s deputy chief executive and another senior officer to introduce the company for which she worked, Ampersand, to the deputy chief executive and to obtain work for Ampersand from his directorate.

“Both council officers were clear that Cllr Jones had not asked for or expected any preferential treatment for Ampersand.

“It was possible that an email sent to seven other officers could be interpreted as encouragement to view Ampersand favourably, but it was clear that Cllr Jones had not sought any such recommendation and that she had no influence or input into the wording of the email.”

On the likelihood of the email being discussed in the meeting, Mr Moore said: “Of course it will, but I’m not prepared to speculate.

“I will defend everything that is put before me.”

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