Handforth Parish Council viral meeting probe costs £85k

An investigation into a parish council which went viral due to a chaotic Zoom meeting has cost taxpayers more than £85,000, it has emerged.

Clips from a meeting at Handforth Parish Council, now Handforth Town Council, racked up millions of views online in February 2021.

Investigating multiple complaints cost Cheshire East Council £85,716, a report revealed.

No formal findings have been made against any councillor.

The viral meeting highlighted the role of Jackie Weaver, who is from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils which represents town and parish councils.

She said although she was not surprised by the cost, she was "shocked and horrified by it".

"At the moment every tier of government is saying we have no money," she said.

"So the last thing we should be doing is literally wasting money on things like this."

Ms Weaver said there should be the option of placing sanctions on councillors, such as removing them from all council duties.

A report to Cheshire East Council's Audit and Governance Committee said it had been investigating after receiving 21 formal complaints between 2018 and November 2020.

It was decided all the complaints should be referred to a single external investigator due to the complexity and nature of the allegations.

More complaints were made following the meetings of December 2020, which went viral in February 2021, and these were looked at by the same investigators.

In total, six separate investigation reports were created.

Three members were found to potentially be in breach of the Members Code of Conduct and were issued with determination notices by Cheshire East's monitoring officer and were due to attend a hearing sub-committee meeting.

But it was not possible to pursue these matters, the report said, because of the resignation of all three of the members.

The report said there were a number of "complications which prolonged the process and increased the total cost".

This included the resignation of the three members due before the sub-committee and an investigation that was "characterised by repeated and prolonged delays".

It also said it included "insistence on revisiting, repeatedly and in detail over the course of approximately two months, matters falling outside the scope of the investigation or a refusal to engage at all".

There were also "numerous letters and emails of complaint" challenging the council, its officers and the investigation process.

The independent investigator also faced complaints.

"The nature and the manner in which the complaints were expressed resulting in the external investigators' firm engaging their own staff protection protocols," the report said.

The report said Cheshire East's investigation process needed to be "proportionate and fair".

It said that proportionality applied to the "reasonableness of the resources used as against potential sanction".

The report highlighted that the investigation cost more than Handforth's annual budget of £85,000, which is raised via a precept on local residents.

"Although the process is undoubtedly fair, it is arguable it is not proportionate in respect of cost against potential sanction," it said.

Cheshire East is statutorily obligated to investigate and the cost of investigations into poor behaviour "even when proven to have occurred" cannot be recovered from those councils.

"This cost is equivalent to employing a social worker to support a family in need," the report said.

The report will be discussed by councillors at a meeting on Thursday.

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