A parish councillor who suggested the lack of oversight of a council's finances could mean the clerk could 'turn to the dark side' has been found to have breached the code of conduct. 

Cottesmore parish councillor Jadene Bale, who is herself employed as a clerk at three parish councils in Rutland, made the comment in an email sent in May last year to fellow councillors and clerk Michele Jones. 

The clerk made a complaint to Rutland County Council, which handles standards matters, and at a private meeting in May, four councillors on the committee, which is headed up by Cllr Oliver Hemsley (Independent), unanimously found that Cllr Bale had been disrespectful. 

The decision notice was published this week. 

Cllr Bale, who lives in Cottesmore, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Cottesmore Parish Council was reviewing its policies last year and she flagged up that she did not think it was adequate that only one signature was needed on transactions. She said she was not happy with the current arrangements of showing councillors print outs of bank statements as these could be altered. 

She said: "The phrase I used was 'if she wanted to book a holiday we would not be aware until the following month'. We don't have the necessary safeguards in place.'" 

Cllr Bale said she had put in brackets that she was not suggesting the clerk would do so and added: "I did clarify I was not making an accusation." 

She also, within the email, made reference to a situation where the clerk could 'turn to the dark side' but told the LDRS that 'anyone can clearly see the reference to Star Wars was a joke'. 

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The clerk had asked her to make a public apology, but Cllr Bale said she had not thought she should do as the matter was not made public and only the clerk and other parish councillors were aware of the email. 

She said, in hindsight, she should not have used the clerk's name in the email and instead should have just said 'the clerk'.  

She said: "I don't feel I was disrespectful or that anything in the email was a breach of the code of conduct." 

She said in her profession as a clerk she was aware of the need for financial safeguards regarding the use of council funds.  

All councillors are bound by a code of conduct, however sanctions for councillors are limited and only on a criminal conviction can any councillor be removed from post. Cllr Bale will receive a formal letter from the standards committee. 

The clerk has been contacted for comment.