Mid and East Antrim Council to refer itself to public services ombudsman

Mid and East Antrim councillors voted to refer themselves by a single vote

Mid and East Antrim Council has voted to refer itself to the public services watchdog after claims representatives "misled" a Stormont inquiry.

It relates to the withdrawal of staff conducting Brexit checks from Larne port over security fears.

A motion called for a report into the incident at Stormont's agriculture committee to be referred to the NI Public Services Ombudsman.

On Monday, councillors voted in favour of the referral by a single vote.

The motion was brought forward by the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) due to the "suspicion" that information which should have been in the report had been "suppressed" from the committee's probe.

The report, published in July, raised concerns over the "quality and credibility" of some of the council's evidence due to "several contradictions and inconsistencies".

'Misjudgement'

MLAs also disagreed with an explanation from council chief executive, Anne Donaghy, that a letter she sent to the UK government was not relevant to their inquiry.

They said not disclosing it to the committee was a "misjudgement".

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor John McDermott accused the TUV and Sinn Féin of conducting a "witch-hunt".

"Why didn't the DAERA (Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs) inquiry refer it, why didn't they pick it up and run with it," he said.

"They sent it back to the council saying, right, fair enough you've made a few mistakes, here is what you need to do to rectify it.

"They didn't see the need for another inquiry. All this is petty politics."

Broad support

TUV deputy Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council, Matthew Armstrong, said his party was concerned about an apparent lack of "openness and transparency".

"The motion was brought by the TUV and it received broad support across the chamber," he said.

"I cannot speak for, nor do I have any influence over, any other party including Sinn Féin and their voting patterns are indeed a matter for them."

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman said it had not yet received a referral from the council.

"Should we do so it will be dealt with in line with our normal process."

A Mid and East Antrim council spokesman said: "Following a vote by elected members of 17 to 16, council will now fully engage with NIPSO proceedings as required."