Councillor dismissed after benefit claim investigation survives Standard Committee‏

As blogged before here when Bracknell blog reported before the local papers on the dismissal of Borough Councillor Denise Whitbread from Holyport Cof E Primary School in 2008 after receiving social security benefits and after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the General Teaching Council of England (GTC) following an investigation by the Work and Pensions department and the Bracknell Borough Council.

A meeting of the referrals Sub-Committee of Bracknell Forest Council's Standards Committee have examined a complaint by the Bracknell Liberal Democrats about the conduct of Borough Councillor Denise Whitbread.

I can report that the Sub-Committee have rejected the complaint and the grounds that Denise conduct did not fall within the scope of the Code of Conduct in relation to her duties as a councillor.

Ray Earwicker, Lib Dem PPC for Bracknell, said 'it was outrageous that the Code of Conduct had been interpreted in this way. Elected representatives were also accountable to those that elected them and the community as a whole. Cllr Whitbread's action clearly served to undermine the confidence and trust that was placed in her when she was elected to serve the residents of Wildridings and Central in 2007.'

There is a possibility of an appeal by the Liberal Democrats by I guess this would result in the same conclusion by the Sub-Committee. It looks like that the only chance people will have their say on this issue will be during the next council election in 2011.

Bracknell Tory Councillor Dismissed After Work and Pensions Investigation

I have come into some information on the Tory Councillor Denise Whitbread of the Wildridings and Central ward, Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

After some investigations I have received the following statement from the Holyport C of E Primary School Governors.

'Ms Whitbread was employed by us as a teacher until she was dismissed on 13th June 2008.
She was suspended following a benefit payment investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions and Bracknell Forest Council and subsequently dismissed.'

The following details were recently published on the web by the General Teaching Council for England here. This is repeated below;

Disciplinary order made by the GTC
Hearing of Professional Conduct Committee

On 15 December 2009 a disciplinary order was made against Ms Denise Whitbread, teacher reference number 8654912, taking immediate effect.

Ms Denise Whitbread was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct in that whilst employed as a teacher at Holyport Church of England (Aided) Primary School between September 2004 and 13 June 2008 she:

i) received Social Security Benefits to which she was not entitled

ii) failed to obey the management instruction given to her by the headteacher to inform her of developments in the Department of Work and Pensions case against her

iii) frustrated the School's enquiry into these matters by:

a) claiming she had instigated the investigation and not the Department for Work and pensions

b) withdrawing her authorisation from the DWP to answer the School's investigation queries.

Ms Denise Whitbread received a Reprimand (two years).

Holyport School comes under the territory of Windsor and Maidenhead Council so its interesting to discover that Bracknell forest Council were involved in this investigation.

She was dissmissed in June 2008 and yet the council appear to of taken no puplic action. I expect to see a statement from the Bracknell Forest Council on this subject in the local press soon. I also wonder why no action has been forth coming from the council and what will happen to her future position on the council.