A Hadleigh town council committee has been branded 'a waste of time and money' after making decisions in private despite a cost to taxpayers of thousands of pounds.

A whistleblower has revealed the council agreed to pay £2,000 to a human resources company to investigate the possibility that bullying had taken place within the council, despite no current formal complaints being made.

The motion was put forward by the town council's staffing sub-committee after a meeting held in secret, then ratified by full council after the agenda item was discussed during a confidential session, where the press and public were excluded.

This was despite councillors warning it should be considered in private session as it concerns a spend of money paid for by the tax payer and that there were no complaints or allegations of bullying or harassment at the time that the item was discussed, and therefore no personal information would have been shared at the time.

It is understood that the council's staffing sub-committee commissioned a HR company to draft a 'Disciplinary Policy' for the council, despite the council, funded by Hadleigh tax-payers, paying a subscription to Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) which, as part of their offer to councils, can provide a draft Disciplinary Policy, which is available to download at no extra charge.

There is also a templated draft policy available on the National Association of Councils website, which the council could have used at no cost.

Hadleigh council committee accused of wasting taxpayers money

It has also been suggested that instead of addressing concerns raised by councillors regarding the conduct and competence of some staff members, the staffing sub-committee decided to refer these complaints, again at cost to the council, for review by an HR company instead of following its own policies and procedures.

The whistleblower, a member of the public with inside knowledge of the issues, said: "This is yet another case of taxpayer's money being wasted, desicions made behind closed doors, contrary to law, and then covered up even more.

"It is no suprise the town clerk, mayor and staffing sub committee won't comment becuase it is part of the cover-up culture, the council has become well known for."

Gale Pryor, chair of Hadleigh's staffing sub committee told Nub News, she would not comment or defend any of the items concerned.

Mrs Pryor also told Nub News that as chair of the committee she considered her role was only to 'ensure that meetings run smoothly',

Projects officer Alicja Barnes found to have acted unlawfully

Since Mrs Pryor took over as chair of the staffing sub-committee, Hadleigh council has been under the spotlight after the Babergh monitoring officer found that a member of staff, projects officer Alicja Barnes, had acted unlawfully in attending meetings as if she were a councillor, and a fellow councillor has been found to have breached the code of conduct.

It has also been suggested that, as chair, Mrs Pryor maintained that the minutes of that sub-committee are 'confidential' and therefore should not be circulated to fellow councillors, although she refused to say where this advice, which is contrary to law, came from.

Hadleigh town council and the mayor Gordon McLeod were approached for comment but failed to respond.