Councillor banned from speaking to female officers, has phone taken away

An independent councillor at a North West local authority has been banned from speaking to female officers and had a mobile phone provided by the council removed, after a panel decided he had used it to call premium rate sex chat lines and to send “inappropriate” text messages.

When conducting a review of its mobile phone contract, Wigan Council discovered that Cllr Robert Bleakley had run up a bill of £2,418.95.

Bleakley failed to attend a hearing on the matter last week. However, the cross-party panel, led by the chair of Wigan’s standards committee, decided there was enough information to proceed in his absence.

The panel found that Cllr Bleakley had broken Wigan’s ICT policy and breached paragraph 5 and 6 (b) (i) of the members’ Code of Conduct when he used his mobile phone inappropriately.

Sanctions imposed by the panel included the removal of his IT equipment, including his mobile phone, and removal of his internet access.

“He must also undergo equal opportunities training, and female officers will be instructed not to speak to him,” the council said.

It is the third time that the councillor has been subject to a standards hearing in 2014.

In February he was found guilty of “deliberately altering an email in an attempt to jeopardise a senior employee’s job”, Wigan said.

The next month he was found guilty of viewing pornographic material on his laptop, which had been issued by the council.

Cllr Bleakley had previously been disqualified and suspended twice by the Standards Board for England. He was also removed from the Liberal Democrat Party.

Wigan’s chief executive, Donna Hall, said: “I am appalled and sickened with the language used in these messages. It is quite clear, judging by the content of Cllr Bleakley’s text messages, that he has a problem with women.

“I will not tolerate this prejudice, nor will I allow him to come into contact with female officers until he has undertaken equal opportunities training."

Cllr Bleakley accused the council of going “over board and over the top in their character assassination of me”.

“I am not a sexist or misogynist and never have been,” he said, adding that a small number of selected text messages havd been taken out of context. 

He insisted that “after consulting family, female friends and colleagues” he would not be resigning.

“When requested to do so I have complied to the letter with Wigan Council policy and paid in full for all of my private phone calls,” the councillor insisted.

“However, I was not aware that my calls and texts were being listened into and recorded by Wigan Council.”

Cllr Bleakley also said that the panel had no authority or power to force him to submit to training.