South Elmsall councillor faces bullying accusations

An independent investigation has ruled that South Elmsall councillor Steve Tulley was ‘intimidating, aggressive and bullying’ during a child protection meeting.
Councillor Steve Tulley from South Elmsall. Suspended from Labour party after taking a stand over the council tax support grant for town and parish councils.
h320a410Councillor Steve Tulley from South Elmsall. Suspended from Labour party after taking a stand over the council tax support grant for town and parish councils.
h320a410
Councillor Steve Tulley from South Elmsall. Suspended from Labour party after taking a stand over the council tax support grant for town and parish councils. h320a410

A complaint was made against Coun Tulley after he attended a Wakefield Council child in need meeting between two of his constituents and social workers on July 17 last year.

The complaint alleged that social workers were left ‘very upset’ and the meeting was stopped due to Coun Tulley’s behaviour, described by health workers as ‘challenging and confrontational’.

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But Coun Tulley denies the accusations, saying the social workers had acted improperly in the case against his constituents, a complaint that was upheld by the council.

He said: “My constituents were being dumped on from a great height and they asked me to step in. I asked some searching questions about the social workers handling of the case, in particular the doctoring of meeting minutes and about their paperwork. My complaint was upheld by the council and, in turn, the social workers involved accused me of interfering and bullying. They complained about my behaviour because they weren’t doing their job properly.”

The initial complaint was referred to the council’s standards committee and investigated by an independent party - a legal officer at Kirklees Council, who found that ‘there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Coun Tulley’s behaviour was intimidating and amounted to bullying of the individual social workers concerned.’

The standards board report, which will go before full council next Wednesday, states that Coun Tulley was uncooperative throughout the investigation.

See tomorrow’s Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express for the full story.