The following statement is made in response to comments made by Cheshire East Council Leader, Cllr Michael Jones, about an officer of Crewe Town Council. At yesterday’s (Thursday 10th April 2014) full council meeting of Cheshire East, Cllr Jones was asked for a retraction of the comments that had previously been made, and this statement has been issued by Crewe Town Council in light of the matter having been addressed:
“As a responsible employer we have a duty of care to our employees. It is regrettable that Cllr Jones and other members at Cheshire East have chosen to name our Clerk in relation to the operations of the Council. This breaks the unwritten convention that elected members may criticise each other, but should not attack paid employees who have no means of defending themselves against such comments. The words used by Cllr Jones at public meetings and in the press were inappropriate, inaccurate and unacceptable. We welcome the fact that an apology of sorts was made at Council last Thursday and we do not expect to see any further attacks on paid employees. We hope this brings such matters to a close and for the record we are proud of the collegiate way in which the Council operates and value the fantastic relationship between members and officers at the Town Council.”
