Wixams councillors have dismissed claims that there is a judicial review against them.
Wixams Town Council has said it has not received any official notification of a judicial review, despite a series of emails and a Facebook post from town councillor David Whiteley claiming to have lodged legal action against the authority.
Town councillor Whiteley posted on Facebook on Monday (15 September) that he is the claimant in two “active Judicial Review proceeding against Wixams Parish Council [sic]”.
During the correspondence agenda item during yesterday’s meeting (Tuesday, 16 September), council clerk Sarah Gallagher said the town councillor had also circulated lengthy documents, including a 92-page “pre-action protocol” letter, to councillors, auditors and Bedford Borough Council’s monitoring officer.
She said he alleges that the council held an unlawful meeting in May, that serious governance failures have taken place, and that its finances are at risk of “unlawful expenditure.” He has also referenced multiple judicial review claim numbers in his correspondence.
Chair of the town council, Cllr Marc Frost, told the meeting that the council had checked with the courts and “nothing has been received officially.” He said paperwork submitted by town cllr Whiteley had either been rejected or not allocated to a court officer.
“The only thing to say is that we are aware of it… But at this moment in time, no action has been taken,” he said, “If we get an official notification then we will engage with our insurers and respond.
“Every single thing that we have done has followed the advice of the monitoring officer and various bodies – we have done nothing wrong.”
Ms Gallagher said she was “livid” that allegations of financial failings had been sent to external auditors, and she also addressed a separate concern about a mistake in meeting notifications.
“There is no legal dilemma over it because the government legislation is so unclear,” she said.
The town council said it would only act if a court formally confirmed proceedings. The judicial reviews were discussed in two agenda items – correspondence and what was originally going to be a closed item.
But town cllr Frost said that as it had already been discussed in public the town council didn’t need to move into a closed session.
Town cllr Whiteley was present during correspondence, but excused himself from the originally closed agenda item.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
