A Nottinghamshire town council is making progress after a critical report found its reputation had been “stained” by years of controversy. Bingham Town Council faced a string of issues which led to some residents starting a petition requesting that Rushcliffe Borough Council take over the running of the authority.
An independent report said two councillors, Francis Purdue-Horan and John Stockwood, had breached Bingham Town Council’s member code of conduct and both were suspended from the Conservative party. Rushcliffe Borough Council set up an Improvement Board at the end of 2021 to review Bingham’s governance.
The resulting report concluded in May 2022 that some councillors’ “attitudes and behaviours are the overriding issue to the resolution of the problems”. Bingham Town Council was also given an action plan to work through.
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Leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council Simon Robinson (Con) said during the authority’s cabinet meeting on December 15: “A good lot of money, time and effort has gone into this so it is important we reflect and look at the progress being made. What’s really good is the report reflects the professionalism and experience of that board.
“I’m delighted to report back six months later that Bingham Town Council has acted very positively and been proactive to the actions going forward. This is reflected best by the fact there has been no complaints within the members since the improvement board report came forward.
“That’s a great testament to the council and the quality of the improvement board. From a bad situation, we’ve seen a lot of progress here.
“People in Bingham certainly have more confidence now with Bingham Town Council and that is the best testament of the lot.” He added the issues are an indication to other parishes that “it won’t be tolerated”.
The comments were made at a cabinet meeting on December 13. Councillor Andy Edyvean (Con) added: “It’s important councillors at all levels act properly.
“Bingham Town Council are clearly striving to improve their functionality from the position they were in. It’s clear that the council has become more civil and inclusive and long may these improvements manifest themselves.
“One would hope in the next elections we will maybe see more candidates coming forward, even those councillors who in the past have served on Bingham Town Council and chose to withdraw from it because of the atmosphere that was prevailing.” Councillors voted unanimously to approve the recommendations to endorse the progress made and congratulate Bingham Town Council on its commitment to improvement.
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