Ludlow Town Council could be counting cost of clerk resignation (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Ludlow Town Council could be counting cost of clerk resignation

7:20am Friday 14th September 2012 in News

A SALARY of up to £40,000 is on offer to Ludlow’s new town clerk. But right now, the council has to consider the cost of the clerk leaving at the end of this month – and that adds up to more than money.

Fallout from the resignation of Veronica Calderbank amid bullying allegations – as revealed exclusively by the Advertiser in July – is far from settled.

The Advertiser has learned that the position of town clerk is to be offered with a salary of between £36,000 and £40,000 a year but has yet to be advertised.

Meanwhile, the heat stays on the council, fuelled by the extraordinary decision to withdraw large sections from the minutes of a meeting in July at which there had been an acrimonious debate about the resignation of Mrs Calderbank.

It was at this meeting that the bullying allegations were aired and Shropshire county councillor Martin Taylor- Smith called for four members – including a former mayor – to “consider their position”.

All allegations relating to the resignation of Mrs Calderbank – contained in her resignation letter to Town Mayor Tony Pound – have been denied, but there are fears about what costs the council could be exposed to over the issue.

Although the minutes of the meeting have been published, town councillor Susan McCormack, supported by Jeffry Wilcox, called for large sections of the minutes to be redacted.

The suggestion was carried on the vote of Councillors McCormack and Wilcox, while the remaining councillors who were present abstained.

Coun McCormack claimed that parts of the minutes could be libellous and impact upon a potential legal action for unfair dismissal against the council.

Ludlow Town Council has engaged Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors to advise it on employment law and concern has been expressed that council tax payers in the town could end up having to pick up the bill.

After the meeting, Coun Taylor-Smith, who represents Ludlow South on Shropshire Council, described the decision to redact the minutes as “amazing”.