Seven cleared over mosque allegation

Reporter: Richard Hooton
Date published: 28 October 2010


SIX senior Lib-Dem councillors and a former councillor have been cleared by a watchdog after complaints from two Oldham MPs about the fast-tracking of plans for a new mosque.

They included the Lib-Dem Council leader Councillor Howard Sykes.

All were reported to the Standards Board for England after plans for the Waterloo Street mosque were classed as urgent business and approved in March.

Labour MPs Phil Woolas, who represents Oldham East and Saddleworth, and Michael Meacher (Oldham West and Royton) questioned if there were any planning grounds to bring the proposals forward before the local elections.

But the board found the Code of Conduct had not been breached by Councillor Sykes, his deputy, Councillor Jackie Stanton, and councillors Roger Hindle, Lynne Thompson, Mark Alcock, Mohammed Masud and former councillor Mohib Uddin.

Councillor Sykes blasted the Labour complaint, saying: “I cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing my complete and utter outrage at what was a blatant political stunt by the Labour Party by referring my colleagues and me to the Standards Board.

“There is nobody more committed than myself to upholding the standards of behaviour by politicians.

“But this is not the first time Labour has blatantly politicised a system meant to help improve the public perception of councillors.”

The allegation claimed the councillors had misused their position and brought the council and the office of councillor into disrepute.

The application had not been on the planning agenda because of unfinished negotiations over a commuted sum to be paid. But on the day of the meeting Councillor Hindle, then planning committee chairman, accepted it as an item of urgent business.

The MPs said he was pressured into doing this by the other councillors to claim credit in election literature for the mosque’s approval.

Ward councillor Masud had asked for it to be considered as a matter of urgent business but his request was declined and the board found no evidence of improper pressure.

All the councillors, except Councillor Hindle, attended an election rally when mosque representatives raised concerns about the plan’s progress and increased the commuted sum on offer.

But there was no evidence that Councillors Masud, Thompson or Uddin did anything related to the mosque application after the rally.

Councillors Stanton and Alcock informed a senior officer about the increased offer but the board did not consider this inappropriate.

The board found no evidence that Councillor Hindle had been pressured into putting the application on the agenda.

When officers asked for reasons for his decision, there was an email exchange involving Councillors Sykes, Stanton and Hindle.

Although the board had concerns about some of the email content, it did not consider that the emails amounted to bullying or an attempt to pressure Councillor Hindle and it was clear he had already made his decision.

The day before the meeting Councillor Alcock told Councillor Hindle that the mosque feared that it would lose some of the funding promised for the development if it was delayed.

Councillor Hindle was advised by a legal officer that this was a valid ground for treating the application as urgent and the board concluded that this did not breach the Code of Practice.

The Board could have suspended or disqualified the councillors if they had been found in serious fault.