Council chief sacked for paying staff to build glamping pods

Somerset Council chief was sacked for paying furloughed council staff to build glamping pods, lay turf and remove a dead pig from her private vineyard

  • Clare Pestell bought Melbury Vale Winery near Shaftesbury, Dorset, in 2003
  • She rose to become director of commercial at South Somerset District Council 
  • A whistleblower claimed in a letter that taxpayers’ money was being misused
  • Ms Pestell failed to declare that council staff had been used to build glamping pods, trim grass, and lay turf outside her cottage, a report found
  • Ms Pestell denied the allegations and said the council staff were self-employed and working in their own time 

A council chief has been fired for using furloughed staff to build glamping pods, lay turf and remove a dead pig from her private vineyard.

Clare Pestell runs Melbury Vale Winery near Shaftesbury, Dorset, which she bought with her brother Glynne in December 2003, according to its official website.

She joined South Somerset District Council in 2012, rising to become its director of commercial and income generation in 2017, and was last year in line to become interim chief executive, with the council confirming her appointment in May 2021.

But she dropped out the next month ‘for personal reasons’ before she had formally taken up the post, and was summarily dismissed in October following allegations of taxpayers’ money and council resources being misused, Somerset Live reports.

A whistleblower made the claims in a letter to council leader Val Keitch in April 2021, and independent external investigator Richard Penn produced a report which found she had breached the council’s code of conduct numerous times. 

Ms Pestell denied the allegations and said the council staff were self-employed and working in their own time. 

But Mr Penn’s report found that she had failed to declare that council staff had been used – in council time – to build glamping pods, trim grass, lay turf outside her cottage and, in February 2020, remove a dead pig from her land.

Clare Pestell joined South Somerset District Council in 2012, rising to become its director of commercial and income generation – and was even in line to succeed Alex Parmley as interim chief executive, with the council confirming her appointment in May 2021

Ms Pestell runs Melbury Vale Winery near Shaftesbury, Dorset, which she bought with her brother Glynne in December 2003, according to its official website

She sent a message to an officer on February 24, 2020, asking them to take the pig to the Frome Vale livestock dealer near Maiden Newton, according to the report.

Mr Penn said Ms Pestell had ‘risked bringing the council into serious disrepute’ by paying council employees cash in hand or in kind for work done on her winery.

Some of the employees were shielding under the government’s Covid restrictions, and were already in receipt of furlough payments through the coronavirus job retention scheme.

Mr Penn said Ms Pestell’s actions were ‘a serious misuse of council resources’, including repairs to her own tractor and other vehicles at the council’s Lufton depot in Yeovil during work hours.

The glamping pods were granted planning permission by North Dorset District Council in May 2018.

Mr Penn had spent ten years as chief executive of Bradford City Council and was commissioner for standards for the National Assembly for Wales between 2000 and 2010.

Ms Pestell had failed to declare that council staff had been used – in council time – to build glamping pods (pictured), trim grass, lay turf outside her cottage and, in February 2020, remove a dead pig from her land, a report found

Ms Pestell, who strongly denied the allegations, was summarily dismissed in October after the council’s appointments committee reviewed a report from independent external investigator Richard Penn.

Mr Penn spent ten years as chief executive of Bradford City Council and was commissioner for standards for the National Assembly for Wales between 2000 and 2010.

He interviewed numerous members of staff, including Ms Pestell, and his report said she had breached the council’s code of conduct numerous times, identifying several occasions where she used council employees to carry out work on her Dorset winery, and recommended she should be subject to a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct. 

Ms Pestell had declared her business as an interest, saying some meetings or training for the council had been held at her premises. 

She originally worked full-time for the council, but as her winery business grew, her working week was reduced to four days a week in August 2019 by agreement with the then chief executive Alex Parmley.

Ms Pestell had declared her business as an interest, saying some meetings or training for the council had been held at her premises

Mr Penn told the council: ‘My conclusion is that, taken as a whole, the cumulative conduct of the Director amounts to gross misconduct.

‘I conclude that there is evidence that CP has abused her position as a council director and has failed to ensure that the correct information was documented and declared.

‘CP has also disregarded government guidance and paid council employees who were in receipt of furlough payments as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for work which could be seen as enabling benefit fraud and a reputational risk to the Council and the spirit of the scheme to preserve employment.

‘CP has been negligent to the council in that she failed to take the appropriate steps to ensure that employees were not working for her and using council resources at the same time as being paid by the council, thereby resulting in a loss to the council.’

Ms Pestell, who had already resigned and was serving out her notice, appealed but the decision was upheld by the council’s appeals committee. She left the council on October 21, 2021.

Ms Pestell was the original choice to succeed Mr Parmley as interim chief executive, with the council’s appointments committee confirming her appointment on May 4.

But she dropped out in June 2021 ‘for personal reasons’ before she had formally taken up the post. The committee met in July to appoint her replacement.  

On April 22, 2021, Mr Parmley and council leader Val Keitch had received a letter from an anonymous whistleblower.

The letter, which has not been made public, alleged Ms Pestell breached the council’s code of conduct by failing to ‘declare conflicts of interest between her official duties for the council and her private business, her personal relationships and other interests’.

Following an initial ‘fact-finding’ investigation by the South West Audit Partnership, the council commissioned Richard Penn in July to conduct a full, independent, external investigation.    

Mr Penn said that there was ‘sufficient evidence’ from managers and employees in the council’s commercial services arm that the misuse of council resources ‘was known’ by Ms Pestell and she commissioned the work herself ‘in a number of instances’.

Asked what the public would think about her conduct, Ms Pestell said she ‘doubted the public would be interested in what council employees do in their own time as self-employed individuals and would be more concerned about their bins not being collected’.

She said she ‘never missed a deadline, never not responded, nor not delivered for the council in nine years’ and her work had generated ‘substantial income to cover known council revenue shortfall’, ensuring front-line services could still be delivered.

The council said ‘This was a complex and difficult investigation. We thank all those involved for their diligence, and also express our thanks to all colleagues who have participated in the process.

‘We have a proud reputation for going above and beyond to support our communities, and it is vital that we follow our code of conduct in all the work we do, which sets standards of behaviour and conduct that we expect from all of its employees.

‘The investigation has also highlighted a number of actions that we need to undertake to ensure lessons are learned. This will include but will not be limited to reviewing our training offering and the implementation of our financial policies, and these will be implemented as a matter of urgency.

‘Be reassured, as this has demonstrated, we take all allegations of misconduct and gross misconduct very seriously, so that we protect our residents, partners and our staff.’

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Whatsapp for animals! Study finds hippos talk to friends but HATE strangers
Next post Armaan Malik Wants His New Single 'You' to Feel Like a 'Hug of Comfort'