Sue Gray report: Sheffield council boss' Whitehall drinks investigated

A former Covid taskforce chief's leaving drinks are among lockdown events being investigated by police.

Current Sheffield City Council chief executive Kate Josephs has previously apologised for attending the Cabinet Office gathering in December 2020.

The report by civil servant Sue Gray into allegations of rule-breaking in government named the event as one of 12 being investigated by Scotland Yard.

Sheffield City Council said it would consider the findings.

Ms Josephs is currently on paid leave from her £190,000-a-year role at the authority, which she took up in January 2021.

She previously worked as director-general of the government's Covid Taskforce unit - which was responsible for drawing up restrictions.

Ms Gray's report identifies a Cabinet Office gathering on 17 December 2020 held "on the departure of a senior Cabinet Office official" as an event under investigation by police.

Ms Josephs said in a tweet last month that she "apologised unreservedly" for the event and the anger it would have caused among the people of Sheffield.

Lord Paul Scriven, a Liberal Democrat peer and former leader of Sheffield City Council, tweeted that he believed Ms Josephs' position was "untenable" and "if she refuses to [resign], then she needs to be suspended."

Lord Scriven said the local authority was now in a "farcical" position as "their CEO is subject to a Metropolitan Police investigation about attending a party that clearly reached the threshold for a criminal investigation," according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a statement, Sheffield City Council's leader Terry Fox said: "The council's cross-party committee is due to meet again tomorrow and they will consider Sue Gray's update as part of their deliberations.

"We now need to let the committee, chaired by councillor Julie Grocutt, do its work," he added.

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