COUNCILLOR'S WIFE IN PHONE ROW

27-03-2008

Sandwell Cabinet member Derek Rowley has defended the appearance of his Council-issued mobile phone number on a receipt issued by his wife’s company. Critics say it's an abuse of his position to allow the moby to be used for commercial purposes.

Rowley insists that his missus – who runs an organisation called Glenys’s Marquees – left the number on by mistake when she used a document template he’d set up on the family PC.

But he said that in any case, he had done nothing wrong and broken no rules.

“A fair number of councillors are self-employed and use their Council mobile phone numbers for work. As long as they pay for their calls, that’s not a problem.

“Every month we get an itemised bill and any personal calls are deducted from our allowances.

“In fact the Council makes money from it, because they charge us the full rate, even though they get a 30% discount from the mobile phone company.

“You could say that every time we use the mobile we’re subsidising the Council taxpayer.”

Former Tipton Conservative candidate Beatrice Owen has complained to Sandwell Council saying, “A Council mobile phone should only be used for official business.

“What if a constituent is trying to get through but can’t get the help they need because the councillor is on the phone doing their day job?

“It certainly shouldn’t be used by a Councillor’s wife to help run her business.”

Rowley responded: “This was a mistake, a one-off. I challenge Beatrice Owen to find another one of my wife’s receipts with my number on it.”