Northampton councillor who receives £14,000 a year to oversee standards appears to have broken rules

A councillor who receives more than £14,000 a year to oversee how his authority maintains standards appears to have broken rules by failing to keep his own records up to date.

Councillor Suresh Patel is the chairman of the West Northamptonshire Council’s democracy and standards committee and is also the Conservative Party’s group manager.

All councillors must keep their public register of interests up to date and inform their authority of any new interest within 28 days.

Cllr Patel, who represents East Hunsbury and Shelfleys, was made the sole director of a Northampton dry cleaning business on January 13.

The interest was only published on West Northamptonshire Council’s website on June 5, after the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked why no declaration had been publicly made.

West Northamptonshire Council said it had only received notice of Cllr Patel becoming a director of Alpha Dry Cleaning Solutions Ltd on April 22, 70 working days after he had been appointed.

The delay from April to June was because the authority had not updated its own records.

As the chairman of the democracy and standards committee, Cllr Patel received £14,630 in 2022/23, on top of the £14,630 allowance every West Northamptonshire councillor received.

In May he chaired the meeting that resulted in a three-month suspension of Conservative councillor Phil Bignell from two planning committees in May.

Cllr Bignell was found to have pre-determined and then voted against a planning application at a meeting in November.

Cllr Patel also oversaw and presented changes to the council’s constitution, which was published in May.

The 294-page document states that any changes to councillors’ register of interests should be made within 28 days of relevant changes.

It notes it is a “prosecutable offence to fail to notify [the council’s] monitoring officer of your interests or knowingly/recklessly provide false or misleading information”.

In a statement, Cllr Patel said: “As a councillor of 14 years, I understand the importance of maintaining an accurate register of interests. My current register of interests is up to date and I shall ensure any future changes are notified promptly to the council.”

A West Northamptonshire Council spokesperson said: “Our records show that Cllr Patel notified officers of his interest in Alpha Dry Cleaning Solutions Ltd on 22 April 2023.

“At present, we are not conducting any further investigation into this matter. However, we will take this opportunity to remind all our members to promptly inform us of any changes in their circumstances.”