MINEHEAD's Labour councillors are unhappy that the chairman of the council's staffing committee has been paid £612 for consultancy work, saying it is 'inappropriate'.

The payment of £612 to AKJ HR Ltd emerged at a meeting of Minehead Town Council on Tuesday, November 17. The payment was said to be for 'HR consultancy' to AKJ HR, a company run by Cllr Kingston-James from his home in Hopcott Road, Minehead.

The town mayor, Cllr Jean Parbrook, refused to give more details of the £612 payment because press and public were present at the meeting. But she and other councillors voted against a motion to exclude the press and public so that members could receive full information.

Cllr Parbrook responded to a letter from Labour councillors Andy Lewis, Lesley Culverhouse and Maureen Smith which questioned the payment.

Cllr Parbrook said: "Cllr. Kingston-James undertook three pieces of work for Minehead Town Council at the request of the Town Clerk: an Investment Appraisal of the toilets at Irnham Road Recreation Ground, a feasibility study for the position of Operations Manager & job description, and an Options Study for the move from the Town Hall.

"Cllr. Kingston-James undertook this work at a considerable discount to the council & £102 of the bill was VAT which is recoverable by this Council.

"The Town Clerk is not obliged to get any other quotes for sums under £1000. Cllr. Kingston-James is skilled in this type of work & it was totally appropriate for her to engage his services."

However Labour councillors Lewis, Culverhouse and Smith were not satisfied by this response, saying it blurred his role as a politician and a consultant.

They said they felt the payment was inappropriate, should have been subject to public scrutiny, and questioned whether approval would have been forthcoming if it had been sought in advance from councillors.

Cllr Lewis said: “A committee chair should be making political decisions, based where appropriate on reports from council officers or professional advisers. For the professional adviser and the committee chair to be one and the same person just doesn’t make sense.”