From Colin Midmore, Sandown:

What is it with town and parish clerks on the Island having such a hold over the councillors?

We are constantly told in Sandown our town council has a “duty of care” towards the clerk but it seems to ignore its duty of care to fellow councillors and to the electorate.

The hold clerks have created appears to be empowered by a constant threat of action by the clerks against their employees.

The high ranking officials in the IW branch of the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) are constantly telling anyone who will listen, there is a major problem with bullying and harassment of its members. This is just not proven.

I recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the IW Council asking how many complaints of bullying/harassment have been made by town and parish clerks against councils/councillors on the IW. The response makes interesting reading.

Since records began in 2012, there have been a grand total of two complaints of bullying submitted, with one of these resulting in an apology and the other requiring no action. One complaint upheld in seven years.

Our elected representatives therefore need to understand the facts, resist this unsubstantiated threat and wrestle back control of our local councils from their paid staff.