Cheshire East Council responds to ‘erroneous public speculation’

Cheshire East has responded to speculation by confirming that a councillor was asked to step down as a “neutral and precautionary measure.”

Conservative member for Poynton East and Pott Shrigley, Cllr Howard Murray, relinquished his roles as chairman of the Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (IDC) (which investigates alleged officer misconduct at Cheshire East Council) and Cheshire Police and Crime Panel (responsible for scrutinising the actions and decisions of the county’s police and crime commissioner in public) after being asked to step down from his duties last week.

Councillor Howard Murray

A statement issued by the council said: “As previously stated, Cllr Murray has been asked to stand down from his committee duties because of concerns about actions he took while serving on the authority’s Investigation and Disciplinary Committee (IDC). The concerns do not relate to his work on the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel.

“However, Cllr Murray has been asked to stand down from both committees as a neutral and precautionary measure to avoid any concerns of a similar nature arising in respect of any ongoing work of either of those two committees while the matter is considered further.

“We would also like to be very clear that the decision to ask Cllr Murray to stand down from his committee duties is entirely unconnected to observations/concerns he may have about the issue of making severance payments to officers who are subject to disciplinary processes.

“Finally, the council can confirm, again, that the former director of legal services resigned with immediate effect and did not receive any severance payment.”