East Cambridgeshire District Council leader Anna Bailey writes for the Ely Standard.

As a member of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) the events following the May 2021 mayoral election have really shocked me.

Mayor Nik Johnson breached the authority’s Code of Conduct on two counts: civility and bringing the office of mayor into disrepute. The findings come after multiple conduct complaints were made.

In my opinion, the sanctions available to the hearings panel and imposed by them fall woefully short of recognising the seriousness of the underlying issues which led to total chaos and dysfunctionality at the authority.

Many of the issues revolved around the mayor’s relationship with a now ex-employee who was said to be involved in bullying and toxic behaviour.

The independent investigator found that those involved were entitled to conclude that the mayor was aware of the behaviour and that his actions amounted to him condoning it.

The panel agreed not to release the investigator’s report, a decision with which I strongly disagree; the panel, the mayor and the authority all signed up to the principles of transparency, scrutiny and accountability.

I believe the public interest test overrides any other arguable interest, and that arrangements could and should be made for the report to be published with suitable permissions and redactions to protect the victims and witnesses.

There is not one single member of senior staff, or any staff that had regular exposure to the mayor or the office of the mayor, that was in post two years ago left working in the organisation.

The authority has been through six chief executives in less than a two-year period under Nik Johnson.

In June 2022 the authority received a ‘Significant Risk Reporting’ letter from the external auditor, citing serious concerns about the culture, behaviour and integrity of key individuals. Government later issued a ‘Best Value Notice’ and withheld funding.

The costs arising from the conduct of the mayor and his office total just under £1.1m, a stark figure given that the mayor is now consulting on a 200 per cent increase of his Council Tax precept.

Right now, my thoughts are with the victims, those who have suffered terribly, whose stories remain unknown. I apologise to all those staff that have suffered at the hands of the CPCA; the authority has failed you.