HEREFORD civic leaders say they have decided not to renew the city council’s membership of a local authority association because of ‘bad advice’ given during the run up to the recent Ledbury Town Council judicial review.

Hereford City Council decided on July 31 not to renew its membership of the National Association of Local Councils and the Herefordshire Associations of Local Councils with effect from April 1, 2019.

The council has been paying an annual subscription of £3,900 to HALC which provides indemnified, specialist information, legal opinions and advice for parish council as well as training – but many city councillors feel it is no longer value for money.

Eign Hill ward councillor Jim Kenyon said the Ledbury judicial review outcome had a big bearing on the city council’s decision.

He said: “I never had much faith in HALC but after the judicial review they lost all confidence.

“They seemed hell-bent on giving advice that was politically motivated rather than objectively.

“I think the time on it is up.”

Former Ledbury mayor Annette Crowe said HALC advised the town council during the process in which it barred two of its councillors from committee meetings following complaints over bullying from staff.

But a judge ruled in May that Ledbury councillor Liz Harvey, who was cleared of bullying and harassing staff by Herefordshire Council, had not been fairly treated by the town council.

The town council now faces a bill upwards of £200,000 and is currently investigating whether it can claim back money on insurance from HALC who advised them throughout the process.

Ms Crowe said: “As far as HALC was concerned the staff complaints were to be dealt with under employment law.

“They advised the council throughout the process.”

Hereford Mayor Sue Boulter said she agreed with the city council’s decision to not renew its subscription.

She said: “We can do our own in house training.

“One of the reasons for this decision was because of the bad information given to Ledbury.”

Coun Chris Chappell said: “We will now take advice from our town clerk who is well trained in local government and we would

seek advice from elsewhere if we need it,” he said.

“The main reason for dropping them is the apparent bad advice that was given in Ledbury.”

While councillor Paul Stevens also said the decision was taken because of the Ledbury judicial review outcome and cancellations for training.

He added: “A little while ago we were given some bad advice which thankfully we didn’t take.

“Also, a lot of the training opportunities have been cancelled at short notice and as a council we felt we weren’t getting much value for money.

“A lot of town and parish councils were waiting to see what Hereford did before making a decision and I think the towns will now follow our decision.”

Coun Len Tawn said he felt the subscription was no longer value for money and that it was important to spend taxpayers’ money wisely.

A representative for HALC said it would not be appropriate to comment.