Tribunal told council dismissal decision 'had already been made'

The tribunal is hearing an unfair dismissal and whistleblowing claim from former deputy town clerk Martin Bond.

He claims he was dismissed because the town clerk, Robert Robinson, felt he was going to lift the lid on the state of the fire alarm system at Welshpool Town Hall.

Councillor Phil Pritchard, also county councillor for Welshpool, told the tribunal he was told by then mayor Steve Kaye that Martin Bond was going to be dismissed and that he felt quite angry that 'the decision had been made' even before a disciplinary meeting was held.

Mr Bond was dismissed from his position in May 2019 within his six-month probation period after starting the job in March of that year.

The reasons given were poor relationships with staff members but Mr Bond claims it was a result of an issue he regularly brought up about a faulty fire alarm system at Welshpool Town Hall.

Councillor Pritchard said : "The majority of the people at the meeting were quite happy with Mr Bond's employment and put a resolution in place to deal with any internal issues or disagreements amongst staff members.

"There were no hard facts given at the meeting, no paperwork or letters produced. It seemed clear from this and the meeting we had at The Royal Oak Hotel the night before that the decision had already been made.

Councillor Pritchard also told the tribunal that two council employees alleged it was town clerk Mr Robinson himself who caused ill feeling and upset at work - not his deputy.

He said he was called to an informal meeting held at the Royal Oak Hotel to discuss issues around the town council, and that employee Elizabeth Moore alleged she had been reduced to tears by Mr Robinson.

Councillor Pritchard said he was 'surprised and uncomfortable' with the meeting because he was used to dealing with the then mayor, councillor Steve Kaye and not discussing matters with members of staff in an open forum.

He said: "The meeting was meant to be regarding Martin Bond and a dispute between him and Elizabeth at work.

"But when Mr Robinson went to get the teas and coffees at the start of the meeting, she said it was Robert who she had a disagreement with and the way he responded to her had reduced her to tears, and her colleague Paul McGrath backed her up.

"She said she didn't feel listened to and whenever she would bring a work-related issue up or questioned anything he would get angry, to a point where she felt uncomfortable even going into the office. She said she was low and sick of being shouted at."

Councillor Pritchard added: "The meeting was also partly about the fire alarm issue and Martin insisting there should be more regular safety checks on them, where Robert denied there was a problem, and that the only thing that needed doing to them was regularly changing the batteries.

"But it was clear there was a problem with the working atmosphere amongst the employees and when Robert came back into the room, Elizabeth seemed reluctant to bring up what she had discussed with me earlier when she wasn't there, and Paul was the same."

"My understanding of the way the process worked was that everything went through they mayor and he would sort out any internal issues between employees for example. I wasn't sure why I had been called to a meeting to discuss what seemed to be something that could resolved through a discussion."

He added: "I believe it was partly over the issue between Martin and Robert Robinson over the maintenance of the fire alarms at the building which Martin insisted needed to be serviced regularly, where Robert just felt they needed their batteries changing every now and then.

"That is a separate issue from the reasons given for the dismissal which were issues in relationships with other staff, for which very little or no evidence was produced at the meeting."

The tribunal resumed on Thursday and is due to reach a conclusion on Friday.

The tribunal continues