Cost of Warwickshire County Council Leader George Finch's conduct investigations revealed

External solicitors were commissioned by the council to consider whether Councillor Finch (Reform UK, Bedworth Central) had breached the county’s code of conduct, firstly in relation to his public comments on a child rape case that was still going through court at the time, and secondly over his treatment of council chief executive Monica Fogarty when requesting that the Pride flag be removed from the front of Shire Hall.

Both investigations were conducted by Claire Ward of Birmingham-based legal firm Anthony Collins. She found he had breached the code each time but those rulings were challenged by Cllr Finch who triggered his right to hearings in front of a panel of three of his fellow county councillors.

Those panels are drawn from members of the council's audit and standards committee with the delicate political balance of the county leading to it being formed of one member from each of the three largest groups.

On each occasion the breaches were overturned by two votes to one with chair Councillor Yousef Dahmash (Con, Hilmorton) and Councillor John Waine (Reform UK, Bulkington & Whitestone) pulling the leader out of hot water despite Councillor Richard Dickson (Lib Dem, Kenilworth St John’s) agreeing with Ms Ward.

Cllr Finch’s challenges resulted in more external legal expertise being required with Simon Goacher of Weightman’s LLP brought in to provide the panel with independent advice ahead of and during the hearings.

The hearings took place less than one month apart and came after more than 14 years without Warwickshire County Council needing to stage one.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has requested a breakdown of the costs of each investigation and each hearing. In the meantime, a “global figure for professional fees and disbursements associated with the investigations and advice to the panel” has been provided – the bills came to £33,473.29 plus VAT.

The council has been asked whether it anticipates being able to recoup the VAT.

Cllr Finch is still going through a third external investigation into whether publishing a social media mock-up that portrayed political rival Councillor Jan Matecki (Con, Budbrooke & Bishop’s Tachbrook) as a burglar, breached the code of conduct.

Cllr Finch has repeatedly declared himself solely responsible for the posts despite rival Councillor Scott Cameron (Restore Britain, Coleshill South & Arley) calling for investigators to look into whether Reform's publicly-funded political assistant Jack Parker was involved.

Complaints are assessed by monitoring officer Sarah Duxbury, the council’s most senior legal official, with those qualifying put forward for external investigation.

The third case is being investigated by Kirsty Cole of legal firm Bevan Brittan LLP.

Warwickshire County Council has confirmed it currently has one open external investigation into councillor conduct, albeit without commenting on who or what it relates to.