Following the resignation of Tim Harrison as Chair of Grantham Town Council during the budget setting meeting on Thursday 9th January, I thought it would be useful to provide a number of facts about what happened at this meeting.

1) Grantham Town Council, like every other parish and town council in the country, has a legal duty to set a budget and from this propose a precept which will be included in the council tax charging for this year.
2) During the budget discussion, Cllr Steve Billinghurst, who is the vice chair of the Personnel Committee, proposed that the meeting should go into a closed session to discuss staff salaries, as this is a restricted item. This was agreed and the press and visitors were asked to leave for the session.
3) During the discussion, Chairman Harrison stated that he had asked the CEO of SKDC to carry out a job evaluation. Both the Chair (Cllr Tracey Forman) and Vice Chair of the Personnel Committee (Steve Billinghurst) stated that they had no knowledge of him doing this and it was beyond his authority. They are correct, as all staffing matters reside with the Personnel committee.
4) It is a matter of record that Chairman Harrison has failed to engage with the Personnel Committee. Last summer he placed himself on a recruitment panel and told the Vice Chair of Personnel that the Chair of Personnel Committee would not be involved. This was never agreed with the Personnel Committee. Again he was acting beyond his role and authority.
5) Both Tracey Forman and Steve Billinghurst stated that their roles were untenable as Chairman Harrison had effectively undermined them. They both resigned from their roles on the committee.
6) Chairman Harrison then stated that he was resigning as Chair of the Town Council and exited the room.
7) The meeting eventually reconvened. A budget was passed and a precept. Cllr Harrison, and a few others, did not return to the meeting to discharge this legal obligation.

These are the facts of what happened. Despite allegations against Labour councillors promoted by Cllr Harrison on social media, we have only tried to ensure that the town council operates in accordance with the law (The Local Government Act 1972) For some reason, the former chair has found this difficult to accept and had taken on the role of ‘leader’ and acted as though he has executive power. Parish and Town Councils do not have a statutory role of leaders. Decisions are made by the whole council and then implemented by the Clerk to the council. The Chairperson of the Council does not hold any special power to act unilaterally.