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Salford council has announced an investigation into how a misconduct complaint against deputy mayor Jack Youd was removed from the email inboxes of councillors without their knowledge. On October 10, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) and Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) revealed that an anonymous email was sent to several councillors in January making a complaint against the deputy mayor. To see planning applications; traffic and road diversions and layout changes; and more, visit the Public Notices Portal HERE But some councillors said that the email complaint had been ‘deleted’ from their inboxes within hours of it arriving, and without any warning. A message from a senior official at the council, seen by the LDRS and M.E.N , explained that the sender’s anonymous email address and the wording of the email ‘raised immediate concerns’ over IT security when it arrived, with the term ‘anonymous’ being associated with an ‘active hacking group’. The official’s message said the emails were removed from councillors’ inboxes in light of the security fears. But the removal of the complaint sparked claims of a ‘cover up’ at the town hall to protect the deputy mayor from scrutiny. Salford Lib Dems said in October: “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. “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.” Another councillor, who did not want to be named, said it had created a ‘culture of fear’ at Salford council where elected members felt unable to report potential wrongdoing because they felt it would not be taken seriously. Salford council is led by Labour, under the leadership of City Mayor Paul Dennett. Conservative MP Paul Holmes, the Shadow Housing and Local Government Minister, said: “These allegations are extremely alarming. No councillor should feel afraid to raise concerns about others’ conduct, or fear they will be silenced if they do so. “If true, this amounts to a disgraceful cover-up of complaints against the deputy mayor. “Labour must come clean and tell local residents exactly what has happened here and why.” Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Salford council said its City Solicitor is leading a probe to ‘understand what processes were followed’ when the emails went missing. A council spokesperson added: “This matter is being reviewed by the City Solicitor, a statutory council officer who joined the authority earlier this year. “The review will look at the historic internal circumstances, to understand what processes were followed. “It is not appropriate to comment further until the review has concluded, which will necessarily take time to complete.” It is understood that the council’s investigation will focus on whether or not the code of conduct was broken, and if there are any lessons to be learned from what happened. A ‘discovery’ phase of the review will take a further two weeks in November, the town hall explained. Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “There are good, professional relationships with group leaders across the political divide in Salford, and I don’t recognise the fear or allegation of cover-up that has been suggested here. “A review has been commissioned by the City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer, and like other group leaders, I welcome this step. We treat this very seriously and will be accountable to its findings. “I have made my desire for pace and prioritisation of the review clear to statutory officers. As such, due process must be allowed to take place, and I am keen that this is done as quickly as possible.” The anonymous email complaint against the deputy mayor in January was 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 in Salford. He said in October: “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.” The email complaint, seen by the LDRS , raised concerns about whether the deputy mayor had breached the council’s code of conduct over the relationship. It stated: ‘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.’ 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 complaint was dismissed in line with its policy because the sender would not provide their name or address when asked. 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.” The removal of the email complaint from councillors’ inboxes has sparked concerns from the Lib Dem and Conservative opposition at Salford council. Coun Bob Clarke, leader of Salford Conservatives , said he asked the council to clarify the matter, but he has ‘not yet received a response’ about it. He told the LDRS : “I am increasingly concerned that there may be instances where emails are being deleted without our knowledge. “Given the seriousness of this possibility, I am fully supportive of a comprehensive investigation to determine whether this has occurred and to ensure appropriate measures are put in place to prevent it from happening in the future. “The implications of such an issue are significant and warrant immediate attention.” Councillors Paul Heilbron and Jonathan Moore, from Salford Lib Dems, said: "We’re pleased that the council appears to be taking this issue seriously and is now moving forward with an audit. “We’ve been discussing these concerns for some time, particularly around the need for transparency and proper scrutiny, so it’s pleasing to see steps being taken to get to the bottom of what happened. "Residents deserve full confidence that complaints and correspondence are handled appropriately, and that lessons are learned where things go wrong. “Whistleblowing processes only work when people believe that their concerns will be acted upon. This isn’t just about the one case - it’s about ensuring good governance and accountability across the council. “We’ll continue to engage constructively to make sure the process is transparent, independent, and ultimately helps to restore trust.” The issue has also come to the attention of an MP whose constituency partly covers the borough of Salford. Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South and Walkden , said: “I’m aware that there have been allegations made against Coun Youd and that there is currently an investigation ongoing regarding an email which disappeared from councillors' inboxes. “I have not seen the contents of this email, nor was I aware of its existence until the article about Coun Youd was published. “It would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time but I trust that the council will hold a rigorous investigation into the allegations.”
