Lambeth Secret Committee to decide fate of Director General behind closed doors

Lambeth Council has called a meeting of the Commission of Inquiry for 8 July.

This is news to us. We doubt that many of the current councilors even knew about the existence of the secret Committee.

The officer’s report before the meeting is highly classified. We are not even told who sits on the Committee, how they got that authority, or what their powers are.

All we know is that the agenda of the meeting will include the issue of the current situation regarding the current head of the Council, Bayo Dosunmu.

Last week, Brixton Buzz reported that the Metropolitan Police arrested the town hall’s highest-paid employee on 23 June.

Lambeth Chief Executive charged with:

“Possession of a controlled class A drug, failing to stop following a road traffic accident, driving with an alcohol level above the legal limit and using a motor vehicle in a public place without third party liability insurance.”

Dosunmu is due to appear at Westminster District Court on Thursday, August 1.

However, there is still a long way ahead of him, and it looks like his fate at the city hall may be decided by the mysterious Investigative Committee.

All we know from the highly confidential documents released is that Lambeth has an acting chief executive.

Fiona Connolly has taken on this role. There is no record of who appointed her. Her normal job is as Executive Director of Adults and Health in Lambeth.

The report describes the investigation, which will be conducted as follows:

“A report to consider appropriate next steps in relation to human resources matters involving the Chief Executive of the Council.”

Brixton Buzz would be happy to attend and cover the event live. We strongly believe it is in the public interest to do so, given that Dosunmu receives £185,000 a year in public money.

After electing a chair (no details were given about who sits on the committee) and submitting conflict of interest declarations, the next item on the agenda is the exclusion of the press and public.

The same situation occurred when Dosunmu was first appointed by the secretive Nominating Committee in April 2022. The press and public had no access to him.

None of this surprises us.

The only reason to be surprised is that the Chief Executive’s future will likely be decided at a town hall meeting BEFORE he has a chance to answer the charges brought against him in court.

Let’s leave it at that.