Cllr David “Drury” Monk 2
On the 15th May 2015 Folkestone Town Councillor David Drury Monk (pictured) 
informs the Monitoring Officer [MO] that he has no home, see Register of interest for David Monk FTC It seems odd, as David, as we shall call him, has a home in Hawkinge bought on 06/08/14 according to the Land Registry. This makes David eligible to be on FTC, as this address is within the distance of 3 miles from the boundary of Folkestone. So we fail to understand why he hasn’t registered it on his register of interests.
On the 10th June 2015 just 27 days after completing his very brief register of Interests for FTC, David completes his Register of Interests for SDC. David is the Leader of the Council. On the SDC register of Interests there are 2 addresses. Why aren’t these addresses on his FTC Register of Pecuniary Interests?
On Both Registers he does not mention he is a Director in All Health Matters Ltd. As a Director is he working for free? Or is he Paid? Does the company, of which he is a director, make a profit or gain? As a Company Director surely he has a “beneficial interest”? The company Accounts show that a profit and or gain has been made. So again, why hasn’t David placed this into the public domain as he should?
Remember, David is not the owner of the address he gives for his Densole home; which is on the Shepway District Council website, his wife is, according to the Land Registry.
We find it odd that as a Folkestone Town Councillor, it appears as though David is homeless. Yet as an SDC Councillor he has two addresses.
We find it odd that he has not disclosed this information. The Forms David has signed, make it clear it is an investigative matter if one fails to declare. At the bottom of the form it states:
DECLARATIONS:
IMPORTANT – It is a criminal offence to fail to notify the monitoring officer of any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs). This requirement arises in each of the following circumstances:
(a) before the end of 28 days beginning with the day on which you become a member or co-opted member of the authority (s30(1) Localism Act 2011);
(b) where the DPI is not entered in the authority’s register and is not the subject of a pending notification, but is disclosed at a meeting of the authority (or any committee, sub committee, joint committee or joint sub-committee) as required by s31 (2) of the Localism Act, within 28 days beginning with the date of the disclosure (s31(3) Localism Act 2011));
(c) where the DPI is not entered in the authority’s register and is not the subject of a pending notification, within the 28 days beginning with the date when you became aware that you have a DPI in any matter to be dealt with, or being dealt with, by you acting alone in the course of discharging a function of the authority (s31(7) Localism Act 2011)).
It is also a criminal offence to knowingly provide information that is false or misleading (or being reckless as to whether the information is true and not misleading)
In addition to the above, Shepway District Council has adopted a Code of Conduct for Members which requires you to notify the Monitoring Officer of any DPIs before the end of 28 days beginning with the day on which the Code takes effect. Failure to comply with this requirement would not be itself a criminal offence but could render you liable to action being taken against you under the Code.
Has David committed a Criminal Offence? Probably not. Has he breached SDC’s Code of Conduct? Yes. SDC’s code of conduct Annex 2, states A Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is one which ““a body in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest” This means a firm in which the relevant person is a partner or a body corporate of which the relevant person is a director, or in the securities of which the relevant person has a beneficial interest.”
He is beyond all reasonable doubt a Director of All Health Matters Ltd. Surely that is a beneficial interest? Why hasn’t he declared this Disclosable Pecuniary Interest to SDC or FTC?
Both Monitoring Officers – Amandeep Khroud (pictured) & Jennifer Childs – should now investigate as it would appear that David has failed to comply with the requirement to notify that he has a beneficial interest. This would not be itself a criminal offence but could render him liable to action being taken against him under the SDC Code of Conduct.
Should the new Chairman of the Accounts and Standards Committee Cllr David Owen be informed? Will he be the new broom which sweeps clean? If you wish to help Cllr David Owen, please do contact the following people to bring it to their attention. Then and only then can they begin to investigate.
amandeep.khroud@shepway.gov.uk
jennifer.childs@folkestone-tc.gov.uk
david.owen@shepway.gov.uk
The Shepwayvox Team – Dissent is Not a Crime
Surely, if Mr. Monk has no home address within 3 miles of the Folkestone Town boundaries he cannot satisfy the residency requirements. He could claim his employment with SDC as his ‘Only, or main employment within the area’, but is this what he declared? SDC will doubtless claim to no-longer have this information, so does anyone else have any light to shed?.
As a matter of interest, the Electoral Commission advise that such details should be retained for a calendar year following the election to allow for any petitions to be brought. Shepway seem to think that such advice is not applicable to them. I view this with a somewhat cinical perspective. I suspect that Shepway destroy files on a ‘Need to Do’ basis, as opposed to a ‘No longer reqired’ basis.
Not all Councils have to act as one. We can limit this Council’s autonomy within our own community. For a start, the transparency they trumpet should be apparent, and following this, the complaints procedure should allow other residents, apart from vegan amputees who have been sectioned, to voice a complaint, or even residents capable of counting beyond seven. The point I am making is that the complaints proceedure is virtually impossible to navigate.
I would hope that SDC are alone in their disrespect of their electorate but suspect that they have their tutors nonetheless