Suspended Brent councillor Bertha Joseph gets £12,000 appointment (From Harrow Times)

Suspended Brent councillor Bertha Joseph gets £12,000 appointment

5:30pm Friday 23rd October 2009

A COUNCILLOR suspended for using charity sponsorship to buy a ball gown has been promoted on an emergency planning committee.

Councillor Bertha Joseph (Cons/Kensal Green) has been kicked off Brent Council for six months after being found guilty of bringing her office into disrepute during her second term as mayor from 2007 to 2008.

She was also found to have used her position as mayor to gain an advantage, in a Standards Committee hearing on Tuesday, October 13.

But Tories on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, which runs London's fire services, have made her deputy chair, giving her an extra £12,000 a year of public money in allowances.

On top of the £7,000 she already gets as an ordinary member of the organisation, she is now on £19,000.

Councillor Navin Shah, London Assembley member for Brent and Harrow, said: “This smacks of croneyism.

“This smacks of absolute contempt for the residents and members of the public who expect better standards and better conduct.”

Councillor Ann John, leader of the Labour Group on Brent Council, said: “The Tories are using public money to reward a woman who has been found guilty of serious breaches of the Local Authorities Code of Conduct.”

Cllr Joseph intends to appeal the ruling that led to her suspension, claiming she was entitled to use the funds in that way.

Last week she told the Harrow Times: “I accepted that I failed to declare the sponsorship on time. However, it was my honesty in declaring the sponsorship which resulted in the investigation.

“I was not caught, nor was I prompted or reminded by the trigger of an investigation. It was an honest mistake.

“The committee also decided that I made a personal gain from the sponsorship, despite the fact that two years ago, I gave the 'material gain' - a sponsored ball gown - to charity.”

The Harrow Times contacted Cllr Joseph and Brian Coleman, London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden, who chairs the organisation, for a response and is awaiting a reply.