Sacked finance chief Frank Keegan has been cleared of dodgy dealings with a property developer – and now he wants an apology from the chief executive.
Cheshire East Council claimed the Alderley councillor stood to make personal gain in relation to a housing proposal with a developer – understood to be Jones Homes in Alderley Edge.
But Coun Keegan, who has maintained his innocence throughout, says he simply asked the firm for advice with a view to make CEC £1.6bn and the allegations should never have been lodged with Standards for England.
The six complaints centred on an idea he developed to allow developers to build houses on council-owned land which could then be part-sold to residents for affordable housing and make a profit for the council.
He said: "It’s absolute rubbish that anything inappropriate was going on between myself and Jones Homes and Standards for England agree with me.
"I did not act improperly to secure an advantage and this was an ill-conceived allegation. I feel that has been proved in the report."
"No one developer could have done all the work so there was no way Jones Homes could have benefited. They were purely helping."
He added: "I’d been discussing these ideas with the leader of the council for some years and the cabinet knew all about them. Why did they suddenly report me?
"I think this was an excuse to clear the way for other land deals and I think it would be nice if Erica Wenzel phoned me to apologise. Neither she or leader Wesley Fitzgerald have spoken to me since last October."
The council claimed Coun Keegan told CEC leader Wesley Fitzgerald that he was hoping for personal gain from his housing proposal.
He was quoted as saying he was ‘hopeful for a share in the company’ and ‘wanted a reward’. The ethical standards officer concluded he had said those words – but not in relation to financial gain.
He was also accused of compromising the impartiality of officers by involving them in his scheme and failing to register a personal interest after arranging a meeting with an officer at place belonging to Jones Homes.
Other allegations were that he disclosed personal information about council land and that he used resources to research his project.
Alan White, chairman of Jones Homes, said: "There isn’t and never has been anything inappropriate going on between Jones Homes and Councillor Keegan."
Coun Keegan added: "I’m going to draw breath and say this is the end in my part in this soap opera."
Coun Keegan was removed from the CEC cabinet in November over his ‘conduct’ and his portfolio was taken over by council leader Wesley Fitzgerald, who said the sacking and the inquiry were not linked.
After the suspected breach of the Code of Conduct came to light in October, Erica Wenzel referred the matter to the Monitoring officer who passed on a report to authority's standards committee, who in turn notified Standards for England.
A Cheshire East Council spokesman said ethical values were important, as was a duty to reach reaching balanced decisions on matters of public interest. He added: "The report from Standards for England finds that there has been no failure to comply with the code of conduct. Nevertheless, it acknowledges that it was understandable that the matter had caused concern to Ms Wenzel and that Coun Keegan ought to reflect on his actions as they had caused understandable concerns from senior officers and other members, about the public perception of his relationship with a large property developer.
"Potential breaches are never easy to review and decisions to refer matters relating to possible breaches of conduct or behaviour are sensitive and subject to careful consideration. The authority has acted within its own procedures for reviewing breaches of conduct and considers the matter now closed."
