Andrew Dismore

Following his exchange with  London Mayor Boris Johnson at last week’s Mayor’s Question Time, Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member and parliamentary candidate for Hendon has today submitted a detailed  19 page complaint to Barnet Council’s Monitoring Officer concerning  Cllr Hugh Rayner, the Mayor of Barnet.

Mr Dismore’s complaint, which cannot be published for legal reasons,  raises a number of issues concerning Cllr Rayner’s conduct of his property and private lettings business, his position as a councillor,  and his registration  and declaration of interests concerning the business.

Mr  Dismore said:

“ By his own admissions so far , Cllr Rayner has a case to answer concerning the way he conducts his business. Last week, I wrote to him, putting a number of other additional issues and asking for his response, which has not been forthcoming so far.

“In the circumstances, I believe these matters need to be investigated by the  Barnet Council Monitoring  Officer, to establish whether or not there has  been any wrongdoing on Cllr Rayner’s part.

“I hope that the Monitoring  Officer will conduct a swift investigation as it is not  fair to the  people of Barnet that these serious matters should be hanging   over the Borough’s “First Citizen” , the Mayor of Barnet,  for longer than is absolutely necessary. We need to see an early   ruling  upon one way or the other promptly.

“For my part, I have made clear to the Monitoring Officer that I am available to explain the detail to the Council of the complaint and to produce the evidence I have in support of the complaint. I hope that  Cllr Rayner will offer his full co-operation, too.

“I have also submitted a complaint concerning Cllr Hart cornering the matters I raised at MQT relating to him.”