'Buffoon' slur withdrawn after £19k council inquiry

A £19,000 council inquiry has led to an apology and the withdrawal of a social media post which described the chief executive as a "buffoon".

Southampton City Council paid consultants to investigate the comment by councillor Rob Harwood and the behaviour of another unnamed member.

Councillor Thomas Gravatt told a council meeting the six-month inquiry felt like a lot of work for "what amounts to name calling".

However, deputy monitoring officer Sarita Riley said the external probe ensured independence and had devoted most of its time to the second complaint which was not upheld.

The investigation arose from complaints submitted by the council's interim chief executive Andrew Travers.

They related to behaviour at a full council meeting in September 2024 and Mr Harwood's post on LinkedIn.

The cost of the inquiry was £18,964.31, on top of the 55 hours of council officer time needed to initially consider both complaints, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillor Gravatt, a Liberal Democrat, told a governance committee meeting the expense would "raise eyebrows".

Labour councillor Mike Denness added: "We are also dealing and using and working with taxpayers' money.

"I'm surprised or disappointed that it took an investigation that cost nearly £20,000 to essentially get to a point where in the end both parties just agreed the course of action between themselves anyway."

Ms Riley replied that such investigations were rare and the council had not employed external consultants in that way since 2017.

She added: "There was a lot of people interviewed, a lot of case law that had to be reviewed, a lot of meetings that had to be reviewed and a lot of context around that."

Previously, councillor Harwood, a Conservative, issued a statement saying the matter had been "resolved informally".

In February, Labour-run Southampton City Council was given exceptional financial support by the government after warning that it faced bankruptcy.

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