By Declan Carey,Joseph Timan,Neal Keeling

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Salford council’s deputy mayor Jack Youd is at the centre of a scandal which has sparked calls for an urgent review into allegations of a ‘cover up’ in city hall. An investigation by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) and Manchester Evening News (MEN) has revealed that the deputy mayor was the focus of a misconduct complaint in January over a relationship alleged to be with a woman who works at the council. Mr Youd is married to another woman who is an elected councillor serving in the city. Jack Youd has apologised for the situation and vowed to continue serving as the city’s deputy mayor. He said: “Last year I had a relationship, the personal repercussions of which I regret. People I care for were hurt and I am sorry for the pain caused. “This is a personal and private matter and I will not be commenting on it further. “I will continue to concentrate on serving the people of Salford, as it is my deepest privilege to have been elected to do.” Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “Regarding the Deputy Mayor’s relationship, this matter has been thoroughly assessed by the Council’s statutory officers, who concluded that due process had been followed. “As Mayor, I have not been presented with any substantive evidence indicating that this issue has compromised the professionalism or decision-making of the Council in any respect. My Mayoral Team have also been fully informed of this matter. “Accordingly, I regard this as a private and personal matter, and I will not be making any further comment. “My Mayoral Team, the Labour Group, and I remain fully committed to serving the people of Salford, delivering on my manifesto commitments to the city, and working collaboratively to build the best possible city for all our residents and communities.” A council spokesperson previously said: “The council is aware of this matter and has brought it to the attention of the council’s monitoring officer, who having taken external advice, has concluded that the matter does not meet the legal threshold (as required under the Localism Act 2011) to engage the Members’ Code of Conduct. “It is not appropriate for the council to comment on individual staffing cases, and so we will not be making any further statement on this matter.” An email was sent to councillors and the local authority at the start of the year which revealed information about the relationship, and called for it to be investigated for alleged breaches of the code of conduct. Jack Youd is a public figure in Salford, and was appointed to the senior post in May 2024, serving under city mayor Paul Dennett and playing a key role in creating policy and making decisions at the Labour-led council. Multiple sources at Salford council have confirmed that the relationship the deputy mayor was involved in was widely known about, at least among councillors. The misconduct complaint against Jack Youd was sent using Proton Mail, a Swiss-based email service, by an anonymous sender. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE It asked to ‘investigate whether Jack Youd has appropriately disclosed any personal relationships that could lead to a conflict of interest’, and urged Salford council to ‘ensure that measures are in place to mitigate any potential bias or ethical misconduct’ on the council’s work from the relationship. The email stated: ‘Deputy mayor Youd’s influential role, combined with this personal relationship, could present a conflict of interest or lead to perceptions of bias and favoritism in council decisions. ‘This may undermine the principles of fairness and impartiality expected of public officials. ‘According to the council’s code of conduct, it is essential for officials to disclose relationships that may affect their ability to act impartially. ‘If this relationship has not been disclosed, it may constitute a breach of these ethical guidelines. ‘Such concerns, if left unaddressed, risk eroding public trust in the integrity and transparency of Salford City Council’s decision-making processes.’ Salford council’s code of conduct for councillors includes an obligation to ‘not do anything which compromises or is likely to compromise the impartiality of those who work for, or on behalf of, the council.’ It also states: ‘Members should respect the impartiality and integrity of the authority’s statutory officers, and its other employees.’ Salford council said the anonymous email against Jack Youd was dismissed because the sender did not provide a name or address when asked, or give any reason why they could not provide this information. This is set out in the council’s policy for complaints against elected members. However, the LDRS and MEN have seen evidence that this email complaint against Jack Youd was deleted from the inboxes of elected members in the city within hours of it arriving, leading to allegations of a ‘cover up’ to try and protect the deputy mayor and council’s reputation from harm over the relationship. A message from a senior official at the council, which has been seen by the LDRS and MEN, said that the sender’s anonymous email address and the wording of the email ‘raised immediate concerns’ when it arrived, with the term ‘anonymous’ being associated with an ‘active hacking group’. But councillors have challenged this explanation, claiming the email was removed as part of an alleged attempt to ‘cover up’ the situation from scrutiny. It is understood that the missing emails have not since been reinstated. Salford council has said it will investigate what happened with the missing emails. A spokesperson previously said: “We treat this issue extremely seriously and will be examining what has occurred in this instance to determine if correct council procedures have been followed. “It will necessarily take some time to complete this process.” Councillors Paul Heilbron and Jonathan Moore, from Salford Lib Dems, are demanding an independent review into the situation. They said in a statement: “We’re not commenting on the personal allegations – the focus here is on governance and accountability. “It’s deeply concerning that the Labour-run Salford council appears to have removed complaint emails from councillors’ inboxes and failed to carry out any investigation despite a clear complaint being made. “This raises serious questions about transparency, due process, and whether the Members’ Code of Conduct has been breached. “It looks like Labour are covering up for one of their own instead of acting in the public interest. It gives the impression to the public of something being quietly swept under the carpet rather than dealt with openly and fairly. “We’re calling for an independent review into both the removal of emails and the failure to investigate. Residents in Salford deserve openness, fairness, and proper scrutiny – not political convenience.” Other councillors in the city have also raised concerns. One member, who did not want to be named, said: “We as councillors are elected to scrutinise the executive, so we should be able to know if a complaint has been made against someone as senior as the deputy mayor. “I don’t know how we can hold them to account if a complaint is being deleted. It’s not good for accountability or democracy. “A complaint about the deputy mayor from a whistleblower should be looked into, even if it’s anonymous. “Councillors are losing confidence that the city mayor and deputy mayor are not being held accountable because of this. It’s created a culture of fear. “People are now worried about what to do if they have concerns, they don’t want to raise it because of situations like this, because they see nothing happens when someone in a senior position is involved. “It leaves councillors powerless to raise concerns or issues.” Another councillor added: “Councillors get a number of emails from Proton Mail which are anonymous, so it doesn’t stand up to any kind of scrutiny that it was deleted for security reasons. “It happens all the time that people email multiple councillors anonymously, it’s nothing unusual. “The question is if it’s been done to protect Jack Youd, and I can’t see any other explanation. “IT will sometimes quarantine emails before we see them, but it’s not the usual protocol for emails just to be removed from inboxes like this. “For the type of sensitive information that was in the email, the demand to remove it must have come from someone with authority, and I can’t see how it would be from an officer or someone from IT.” The council said the anonymous email complaint against Jack Youd was dismissed in line with its policy, where a name and address were required but not provided by the sender. The spokesperson added: “The council has received no formal complaint in respect of this matter. “It is not appropriate for the council to comment on individual staffing cases, and so we will not be making any further statement on this matter.” Lewis Croden, chairman of Salford Conservatives, said: “This strikes at the heart of trust in local politics. “Public office is a privilege, not a perk, and residents deserve better than this behaviour. “He must resign immediately, and there must be a thorough investigation to uncover whether any misuse of power or public resources took place. “Mayor Paul Dennett must now show leadership and take decisive action – the Labour Party cannot sweep this under the carpet or hope it blows over. Salford residents deserve transparency, accountability, and integrity from those in power.” The situation surrounding the deputy mayor could have major implications on the future leadership of Salford council, sources have said. This is because Jack Youd has been tipped as the future mayor of Salford when Paul Dennett moves on, a role which comes with a yearly allowance of £98,000. Paul Dennett is expected to be among the favourites to replace Andy Burnham should the mayor of Greater Manchester decide to return to Westminster as some have speculated. A well-placed senior councillor said Mr Dennett may have to put off any ambitions to run for Greater Manchester mayor until a new successor at Salford council is found. “Youd was being groomed as the obvious replacement for Paul Dennett as City Mayor, but he can’t do that job now, it is impossible,” the source said. “The affair and the way it was discovered tarnishes the Labour Group, the office of deputy mayor, and by association the office of City Mayor. “It also potentially has a wider impact. The plan was that Andy Burnham would become an MP again in order to mount a bid to become national leader. He was to get a safe seat in the region. “At that point Paul Dennett, City Mayor of Salford, would make a serious pitch to be Mayor of Greater Manchester. Paul has the ability to do that job. “But now, because Youd cannot replace him, he may have to remain as Salford City Mayor. “In the absence of Youd there is no one else in the current Labour Group who has the right calibre of experience, intellect, and local knowledge to do the job of City Mayor. “This means others come into contention to replace Andy Burnham, like Bev Craig [leader of Manchester council].”