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Oakham Council to receive help from legal officer to tackle ongoing conduct issues

By Sarah Ward - Local Democracy Reporter 26th Aug 2025

On-going infighting at Oakham Town Council has led to Rutland County Council's legal officer stepping in (Photo: LDRS)
On-going infighting at Oakham Town Council has led to Rutland County Council's legal officer stepping in (Photo: LDRS)

The long running issues at Oakham Town Council will be handled by the county council's legal officer who will make recommendations about governance and meet with councillors. 

Earlier this summer, Rutland County Council's conduct committee discussed a special report about Oakham Town Council in private, following a dozen code of conduct complaints made against and between councillors. 

Now minutes of the meeting have revealed that the county authority, which deals with code of conduct complaints for all the parish councils across Rutland, is seeking to meet with councillors in order to spell out the 'inherent risks' it is creating for itself. 

The council has been in turmoil for a number of months, with fall outs and also illness among staff who do the administrative duties. 

New mayor Chris Nix was appointed in May and there appears to be less friction, however there are still live code of conduct matters. 

Of the 27 alleged conduct breaches submitted to the county council's chief legal officer in the year to March, 45 per cent concerned Oakham. 

The minutes say: "Sarah Khawaja, deputy monitoring officer, presented the report which set out the complaints received against members of Oakham Town Council in the municipal year 2024/25 and proposals to address some of the issues being faced there.  

"Following discussion, it was moved by the chair and seconded that the monitoring officer be asked to undertake a number of actions which it was hoped would address the situation at the town council. Upon being put to the vote, with four votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.  

"RESOLVED that the committee: a) Requested the monitoring officer to write to Oakham Town Councillors setting out the committee's concerns and recommendations with regard to the Town Council's governance and the inherent risks it was creating for itself.  

"1 b) Requested the monitoring officer to arrange an informal meeting of Oakham Town Councillors with the chair of the committee and the independent person, to discuss the committee's concerns and suggest ways of addressing them." 

The council's clerk Chris Evans said today that information from the monitoring officer, had not yet been received. 

Next month the council will discuss a planned move to the Victoria Hall in High Street. It could provide controversial as some of the councillors are concerned about the authority taking on the costs of the needed repairs if it moves into the hall. 

     

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