Probe into departure of Kim Ryley is rejected

There will be no probe into the circumstances surrounding the departure of Shropshire Council boss Kim Ryley, authority leaders have ruled.

Mr Ryley left the authority last month after less than three years to take over at Cheshire East Council. There are no plans for him to return to Shropshire when his secondment in Cheshire ends in November. There are currently no plans to appoint another chief to replace him.

Now a move to investigate Mr Ryley’s departure has been rejected.

But council leader Keith Barrow has promised that the new set-up being put in place to run the authority without a chief executive will have to be approved by members.

The move by Mr Ryley, which was announced last month, prompted calls from Liberal Democrat and Labour leaders for the circumstances surrounding his departure to be referred to the council’s scrutiny committee for discussion in public.

But a meeting of the council’s scrutiny chairs group was told on Wednesday that such a move would not be appropriate.

Conservative council leader Mr Barrow said the decision was made on legal advice.

Shropshire’s Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Nigel Hartin said today: “My view was that it surely would have been possible to investigate what happened, even if it related to an employment matter, as a confidential matter.

“As to what happens next now no chief executive is in place, it’s clearly a legitimate matter for debate and I don’t intend to let this matter drop.”

Claire Porter, the council’s monitoring officer added: “All employment matters relating to members of staff would always be confidential and not for scrutiny, whether the meeting was held in public or private.”