Below: Pic of magazine held by so-called Independent Leader Cllr Marc Hince. Details of one such meeting due to be held today.

So-called Independent run Shaw & Crompton Parish Council alerted to breach of election law through attempts to use taxpayers’ cash to campaign for votes.

The Chief Officer/Responsible Financial Officer, for Shaw & Crompton Parish Council and the Oldham Council Returning Officer have been alerted to a serious potential breach of the law by Shaw and Crompton’s so-called Independent candidates.

A booklet, which was set to be distributed to residents of Shaw and Crompton from the Independent controlled Parish Council, is believed to have featured the so-called Independent candidates for this years’ Oldham Council elections. 

The booklet, funded by council taxpayers, features a campaign to rebrand Shaw & Crompton Parish Council as a Town Council, despite the decision to do so having already been made.  It also features in the campaign of two so-called Independent council candidates for Shaw and Crompton Wards for the May elections. 

So-called Independent run Shaw and Crompton Parish Council was also planning to hold a number of public consultations in April, which are also against electoral law.

Under the Local Government Act 1986 it is illegal for a council to publish any material which is designed to affect support for a political party or for a council to arrange events involving candidates.  In addition it cannot consult on controversial matters for obvious reasons.

None of the above arrangements for the Parish Council was officially communicated to councillor Sykes in his role as a Parish councillor, as he and the other Liberal Democrats were kicked off all the committees of the Parish Council to avoid scrutiny of such matters.

However, Shaw Liberal Democrat councillor and founding member of Shaw & Crompton Parish Council, Howard Sykes MBE, sought legal advice after seeing social media posts (see attached), before formally complaining to the Returning Officer for Oldham Council and the Chief Officer of the Parish Council.

In his letter to the authorities councillor Sykes wrote, “My view is that this is clear electioneering during the pre-election period which is designed to affect public support for the two so-called Independent candidates in Shaw and Crompton Wards.”   

Following councillor Sykes’s intervention, Shaw & Crompton Parish Council have now agreed with councillor Sykes and confirmed that the ‘road show’ events will be cancelled, and the 12-page booklet will not be delivered in the election period.

Councillor Sykes said, “It is really concerning that the so-called Independents were clearly prepared to use tax-payers money for their own political campaigns.  Something that is completely against the law.  As a founding member of the Parish Council, I never thought I would see Shaw & Crompton’s public money tried to be used in such a way.  The so-called Independents only cancelled their plans after I took legal advice and issued two formal complaints.”    

Councillor Sykes writes to the Chief Officer of Shaw and Crompton Parish Council

14 April 2024 10:18
Dear Tony,
It is with a heavy heart I write to you in your official capacity as Chief Officer/Responsible Financial Officer, for Shaw & Crompton Parish Council and after seeking legal advice.

I have been made aware that Shaw & Crompton Parish Council intend to hold roadshows between now and the 2nd May purportedly promoting the transition to a town council, which heavily features the two so-called Independent candidates for Shaw and Crompton in the Oldham Borough election. 

Additionally, they plan to circulate at public expense a 12-page magazine again featuring the two independent candidates under the guise of a newsletter which I assume will be delivered commercially as other newsletters have?

As a member of the public, my view is that this is clear electioneering during the pre-election period which is designed to affect public support for the two so-called Independent candidates for Shaw Ward and Crompton Ward.

Please see the comments I have obtained from the Electoral Commission on this subject.

The pre-election restrictions are governed by Section 2 of the Local Government Act 19862, as amended in 1988.3 Essentially councils should ‘not publish any material which, in whole or in part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party’.

Section 44 of the Act makes clear that councils need to have regard to the Code of Recommended Practice.

The essential points from the Code of Recommended Practice are:

• In general, you should not issue any publicity which seeks to influence voters (an exception being situations covered by legislation or regulations directing publication of information for explanatory purposes).
• Particular care should be taken between the time of publication of a notice of an election and polling day.
• Consider suspending the hosting of third-party material or closing public forums if these are likely to breach the Code of Recommended Practice.
• Do not publish any publicity on controversial issues or report views on proposals in a way which identifies them with candidates or parties.
• Publicity relating to individuals involved directly in the election should not be published unless expressly authorised by statute.
• You are allowed to publish factual information which identifies the names, constituencies and parties of candidates at elections.
  

What this means in practice
Publicity is defined as ‘any communication, in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or to a section of the public’.

The first question to ask is ‘could a reasonable person conclude that you are spending public money to influence the outcome of the election?’ In other words, it must pass the ‘is it reasonable’ test. When making your decision, you should consider the following:
You should not:

• produce publicity on matters which are politically controversial
• make references to individual candidates or parties in press releases
• arrange proactive media or events involving candidates
• issue photographs which include candidates
• supply council photographs or other materials to political group staff unless you have verified that they will not be used for campaigning purposes
• help with national political visits (as this would involve using public money to support a particular candidate or party). These should be organised by political parties with no cost or resource implications for the council. 

Please consider this as an official complaint with regards to a potential breach of local authority legislation and electoral law in relation to the forthcoming election in both Shaw and Crompton Wards.

Also, if the leaflet is distributed, shared on social media and the meetings go ahead I would expect a significant part of the costs of these to be included in the election expenses for Shaw and Crompton Wards for the so-called Independents. 

The imprint on the literature and other promotion material will also be incorrect. 

While these last two matters are not a concern of yours, they will be drawn to the attention of the Electoral Commission, the Returning Officer and the police in due course.

Can I ask for your reassurance that there will be no such campaign/expenditure until May 3rd at the earliest?  And that the Parish Council should, in the election period, proceed with an abundance of caution to avoid the Council being brought into disrepute or worse.

I await your response.

Best wishes.

Cllr Howard Sykes MBE

Agent for Hazel Gloster and on behalf of Louie Hamblett agent for Diane Williamson.

Founding member of Shaw & Crompton Parish Council.

HIS REPLY

From: Tony Hilton <clerk.shawcrompc@btconnect.com>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 2:26 PM
To: Howard Sykes <howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk>
Subject: Re: Potential breach of Local Government Act

Good afternoon Howard

Thank you for your email and the statements within.

I write to confirm that the Town Council community engagement/consultation event scheduled for tomorrow evening (16 April) at Shaw Cricket Club has been cancelled and will be re-arranged, as will other such events, at a future date and not until week commencing 6 May at the earliest.

Also, the Spring edition of the Parish Council newsletter will not be distributed until the 3 May at the earliest. 

Please be advised that the above has been communicated to Oldham Council’s Director of Legal Services and the Council’s Chief Executive.  

I trust that this provides reassurance that the Parish Council will not be engaging in any activities which could lead to a potential breach of legislation specifically in relation to the Local Government Act 1986 and Code of Recommended Practice that you cite.

Finally, as you have indicated that you are making an official complaint, please see attached Parish Council guidance/policy on how to make a complaint – see Section 4. 

Regards

Tony

Tony Hilton, CiLCA 

Chief Officer/RFO, Shaw & Crompton Parish Council 

1 Kershaw Street East 

Shaw 

Oldham 

OL2 8AB