Cllr Howard Jones
Leader of the Conservative Group
DATE: 29th October 2013
Dear Liz and Bruce
Until now The Conservatives have refrained from making any statements on the charging of Derek Osbourne as we wished to maintain his right to a fair trial. The former Liberal Democrat Leader of Kingston Council, was given a prison sentence today for amongst other things possession and distribution of the most foul types of child pornography. The serious nature of the charges and his sentencing put a line under part of this affair.
We all share enormous compassion and sympathy for Derek Osbournes’s victims; we hope they have the strength to rebuild their shattered lives. Closer to home Kingston’s already tarnished reputation on child protection issues has been further damaged. Kingston’s residents need urgent independent and verifiable reassurance that their elected representatives are up to the task of child protection and must be able to publicly and openly restore public confidence in Children's Services.
The foundations of public confidence are built on open and frank disclosure of facts. We cannot move forward without first drawing a line on the past. Consequently, I am requesting that the Chief Executive of Kingston Council and the current Lib dem leader Liz Green to commission an independent investigation into the ”Derek Osbourne” era of Council leadership. This investigation should have cross party involvement and findings should be made available to the public.
The basis for the investigation and review are not covered by the police investigation and should include at a minimum the following:
1. Much hard work is being undertaken to repair the immense damage and restore public confidence in Children's Safeguarding Services. However, the public have a right to know how this terrible situation arose and what was Mr Osbourne’s involvement in and influence over the management of Child Safeguarding?
2. To what extent was Mr Osbourne involved in child-related activities in Kingston and was his involvement purely of an administrative nature?
3. We know that under Mr Osbourne’s leadership the Council made substantial financial grants to youth groups, many in the theatrical and performing arts sector favoured by Mr Osbourne. The public, especially parents, need to know the extent to which Mr Osbourne steered public funds towards his pet projects and whether he had any involvement in these outside his formal duties as Council Leader? Was due diligence followed when the recipients of these grants chosen? Were all those engaged in these activities properly covered by the necessary criminal records checking at the time?
As a matter of urgency, faith and confidence in Kingston Council and Councillors must be restored. Kingston’s residents need to know the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. Only after we have established this we can begin to move forward to rebuild our reputation and perform our duties in a manner which commands public respect, trust and confidence.
Kingston’s Conservatives remain committed to cross-party support to the Council on this important issue and offer to lend our assistance in ensuring this process is open and transparent and does not become shrouded in secrecy.
The damage caused by these events and Derek Osbourne’s admission of guilt needs to be scrutinised and any wrong doing publicly purged.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Howard Jones
Group Leader
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