VOTERS who want to quiz their local councillor about a £1 million anomaly at South Lakeland District Council and the suspension of three senior officers are likely to get nowhere, reports Ellis Butcher.

This week the council's 51 publicly-elected members have been issued with formal notes about what "they can" and "cannot say" to the public about the topic.

The move is to ensure that every member standing for re-election knows how to respond if they are quizzed by residents, while out canvassing for votes during the upcoming June elections.

The control of information follows the suspension of three senior officers at South Lakeland District Council last month.

SLDC has stressed that the suspensions are "purely precautionary" and do not imply misconduct, but they follow an investigation into a new pay and grading structure for council staff.

The structure has been found to contain a "gross underestimation" and could cost £1 million more than originally planned.

Council chief executive Philip Cunliffe, finance director Jack Jones and human resources manager Andrew Taylor remain unavailable for comment at work and have not attended key council meetings.

SLDC this week continued to neither confirm nor deny if they were the trio suspended.

The "electoral briefing note" sent out to councillors advises on "Things Which We Cannot Say or Confirm."

l The names of the three suspended officers must not be revealed or confirmed l No details of any possible disciplinary action can be given or intimated l Discussions cannot be entered into about the proceedings or the problems.

Under the list of What We Can Say or Confirm, it reads: l The council has identified a problem with the recently introduced pay and grading structure.

l Three senior officers have been suspended purely as a precautionary measure.

l There are no allegations or inference of any misconduct l There are agreed processes which we must follow in order to protect the integrity of the officers and the best interest of the council.

l Once all the procedures have been followed, a full report will be made public.

Mike Jones, who was last week installed as acting chief executive from his post as director of customer services, refused to comment on the "electoral briefing note" which has been sent to every councillor.

At a Cabinet meeting this week, council leader Coun Colin Hodgson told the Gazette the only comment he had to make was "no comment."

He said the reason for the council's position stemmed from advice the council had taken in regard to the matter.

Last week, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins called on SLDC to be more open with the public.

This week, Malcolm Alston, of Milnthorpe, who resigned from SLDC in March in a protest about the right to speak at a meeting, said: "Secrecy breeds suspicion. I think everything should be out in the open and as straightforward as possible. The more open the council is, the less people will think strange activities are going on."

He also said the goings-on at SLDC would further distance the public from taking part in voting: "I do think it does put people off," he said. "Secrecy breeds suspicion."

Katherine Gundersen, of the Campaign for the Freedom of Information, said the council was probably being cautious about the three individual officers as what had happened may not yet have been established.

She said as soon as the investigation was completed, she hoped the council would be "completely open about it" as it was clearly an issue the public would be interested in.