The clerk of a council that used gas for 17 years without paying claimed she was too busy dealing with “toxic” councillors to realise the error. Beverley Town Council in East Yorkshire only discovered it did not have a contract with an energy supplier when the gas boiler at its office broke down in 2021.
The council eventually agreed to pay £17,000 to settle the outstanding amount. A subsequent internal inquiry found the council had not signed up with a supplier when moving into the rented building in Well Lane in 2004.
Hostile environment at Beverley Town Council
Early last year long-serving town clerk Helen Watson – the council’s only full-time employee – was sacked over the gas issue and other disciplinary matters involving fire safety training. Her claim for unfair dismissal was heard at an employment tribunal in Hull last week before. An out-of-court settlement was reached between the two parties on the fifth day of the hearing.
In her evidence before the settlement, Watson told how she often dreaded going to work because of the behaviour of some councillors. She said:
“It was a hostile environment for quite a lot of the time. My job as town clerk was to advise councillors but my advice was ignored regularly. I would advise them on something and they would often decide not to take my advice.
“At times I lived in fear of going into work and often signed things off just to keep my job. I was constantly fire-fighting because councillors were fighting among themselves. There was a lot of harassment and bullying going on and I just did the best I could.
“I did a lot of things I did not want to do but I did them because I had to earn a living. As a human being, you shouldn’t have to work under so much strain all the time.”
Behind the scenes, “dysfunction” …
Watson, who became town clerk in 2009, said at times the council was almost “dysfunctional” because of clashes between certain councillors.
“All sorts of things were going on behind the scenes. I was living in fear of opening my laptop because I was terrified of what was coming next and what the next fight was going to be. It was very toxic.”
Giving evidence, she accepted co-signing an updated lease in 2014 without checking any of its conditions, including a requirement for the tenant to pay for all utility services.
“All the councillors were aware of the new lease and I advised we should get a solicitor to look at it because I am not legally qualified in that respect,” she said.
“The council decided not to send it to a solicitor because of the cost. They often did things like that if costs were going to be incurred. I was instructed to sign it.”
She said because the council had never received a gas bill since moving into the premises she “naively” assumed the landlord was paying for it.
“If I had been aware of it, I would have tried to deal with it. I just carried on the practice I inherited. If I have done something I am sorry and apologise for it but, having worked for the council for many years, I would not have carried on something knowingly had I known it was wrong.”
… and tea
Watson claimed councillors even blocked her attempt to put the issue on a council agenda some years previously after the absence of any gas bills had been mentioned in passing by the town’s former mayor, Councillor Peter Astell.
“I thought it was the responsibility of the landlord but said: ‘Let’s get it on the agenda and discuss it.’ He didn’t want it on the agenda or a discussion about it. Ultimately, councillors made decisions, not me.”
She claimed dealing with constant disputes between councillors took up a disproportionate amount of her time and distracted her from her work.
She gave the example of Councillor Astell often paying lengthy unscheduled visits to the office during which he regularly made “inappropriate” comments while drinking cups of tea.
Under cross-examination, Watson said making a standards complaint about the behaviour of some councillors would have been “pointless” because the process involved no real sanctions.
“I was fearful of losing my job for several years which I am certain would have happened if I had submitted a standards complaint,” she added.
Beverly Town Council: a Gas Act (1986)
In a statement released last year regarding the gas supply, Beverley Town Council said:
“Northern Gas Networks (NGN) have confirmed that there has never been a registered supply to 12 Well Lane. The property lease for 12 Well Lane states that utility supplies are the responsibility of the tenant.
“NGN has reminded the council that it is a legal requirement to register a gas supply in accordance with the Gas Act 1986 and that this legislation instructs NGN to recover monies lost from unregistered gas use.
NGN has confirmed that they will use standard rates provided by the gas regulator Ofgem to calculate back payment going back to 2004 for unpaid gas. NGN has also instructed the council to take immediate steps to appoint a gas supplier.”
