Expenses were claimed 'in good faith'

Having never knowingly done anything untoward in my public life and duties, and having steadfastly and consistently refused to defend myself from my accusers, it is now with a renewed and strengthened faith and commitment that following requests from a wide cross section of individuals and local businesses - large, family and small - and after deep reflection and with enthusiasm and sincerity, I have agreed for my nomination within our democratic process for the county council elections on June 7.

It is for the public to decide if they wish me to continue with my public life and work.

I remain greatly insulted and distressed by the treatment I have received after 25 years of elected responsibilities, a great deal of which no claims whatsoever were made on the public purse.

From 1976 to 2000, I made not a single claim for expenses from Craven District Council, and indeed in my official public work with many other organisations and agencies, there are many hundreds of instances where travelling and other expenses were never claimed by myself.

These monies which were over the years willing forgone will be in excess of some £50,000, which I could have picked up but on principle refused to claim. The vast majority of other members claimed in full - I did not.

Errors I did make were in claiming a financial loss allowance which I thought was correct at the time, and in claiming some mileage from my home address to official duties throughout the country. Again, as I understood, they were correct and were claimed in good faith.

The work was done, the meetings attended, the mileage travelled as my car with excess of 300,000 miles on the clock reflects the recorded mammoth commitment to my elected responsibilities. Claims were made at the appropriate rate, entered on my Inland Revenue returns and the relevant tax either deducted or declared - all in good faith.

I did publicly and promptly apologise for any embarrassment caused by these errors of interpretation on my part.

Last year I gave my solicitor power of attorney to resolve any other consequential matters subject to relevant tax paid being refunded. All these matters, of course, are concluded.

It would appear from something approaching 20,000 official duties over the years, a claim for one cancelled meeting was made. My conscience has always been and remains clear on these matters.

Throughout the last 25 years I have endeavoured to serve the public of North Yorkshire whether at district, county council, national or international level, without fear or favour, putting the wellbeing of others consistently before self and in hindsight and with deep regret before family and personal relationship.

It is surely rather rich for advice to be given to the electorate of Skipton and Wharfedale from the five self appointed defenders of democracy whose comments you reported last week, whom it would appear could be some of those criticised in a recent District Auditor's report on probity in planning.

It is perhaps appropriate at this Easter Tide for some to give serious thought to "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Robert G Heseltine,

The Ginnel Place,

Newmarket Street,

Skipton.

Distasteful

SIR - I am responding to various letters in the Craven Herald (April 6).

The first letter, with five signatures, only one of whom I know personally, I found distasteful and offensive.

Whilst references are being made regarding Judge Fox's directives in the matters relating to Mr Heseltine, not all Judge Fox's comments are being quoted. Can I make it quite clear, I was there.

Judge Fox made reference to the sterling work done by Mr Heseltine over the last 25 years on behalf of the public through his various offices to which he had been elected, and taking all things into account, he was against imposing a severe sentence.

He instead imposed the most lenient sentence available to him - one of 240 hours community service.

Judge Fox also said that the charges brought against Mr Heseltine were not malicious - but more to do with his personal recording of meetings attended and subsequent claims for expenses.

Reference was also made by different legal representatives to the endeavours of Mr Heseltine to carry out his public duties with diligence and goodwill. It was said that he worked tirelessly for the public's benefit.

One of the most glowing testimonials was in fact from the leader of North Yorkshire County Council - something which everyone should read if possible.

On the matter of expenses, Mr Heseltine could have claimed far more expenses than he has been charged with falsely claiming. Indeed, I understand no claim has ever been made against Craven District Council for the whole of his time on the council - 25 years total and valued at some tens of thousands of pounds.

The second letter suggests a "period of silence be observed". I am of the opinion that a suitable period has elapsed and been observed by Mr Heseltine. Has a similar period of silence been observed by his accusers?

Finally, the latest District Auditor's report of decisions made by the national park's planning committee suggests there are some serious concerns.

Is it that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones?

Dennis Hall,

Brougham Street,

Skipton.

Fair play

SIR - Not every businessman or councillor has fond memories of Robert Heseltine. He was not always perfect. What was his crime?

He made a big mistake, and he pleaded guilty. For the members to continue to kick a man when he is down after he has taken his punishment and refunded the money as instructed reflects badly on the character of those councillors.

Why did they vote him chairman for 11 years if he was so bad?

But consider his record: he was one of three people on Craven District Council who served 25 years without claiming a penny for his time, travel, chairmanship, hotel or conference. He paid his own taxi fares to meetings in London.

He risked the Skipton flood to save an old lady from drowning, and lost his business through spending too much time on committees.

Someone put the knife into Robert, but only one claim for attendance was found to be wrong out of 20,000.

He worked at his daughter's newsagents, starting at 4.30am, dealing with papers and then delivering them up the Dales. He only took payment when he worked a full day, so claims for loss of earnings were incorrect on the days he was at the national park. If he had known, he could have been paid. Travel from home is claimable but if you stop on the line of the route and work, it is not claimable.

As I understand it, all claims are vetted by the office, approved by the national park officers, checked by an internal audit, and then approved by the audit commissioners. Clearly more detailed advice is necessary, and it might be interesting if all county councillors' claims were thoroughly investigated so that all are treated equally.

More recently, in an interesting court case, a justice of the peace pleaded not guilty to claiming loss of earnings although she did not work. The judge found her not guilty and said she should leave the court without a blemish on her character. Funny old world.

But last Friday, the audit commissioners castigated the committee members of the Dales Park for allegedly favouring local applicants in the planning process.

I want to see fair play. The electorate must decide who they want and can only decide if they know the truth. He was a colleague on Craven District Council, and a friend. Was he guilty of deliberate fraud?

ND Simpson,

Calton Lodge,

Airton.

Voters' decision

SIR - I refer to your article "Disgraced councillor plans return" in the Craven Herald, March 30.

I was a member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority during part of Robert Heseltine's chairmanship and was happy on many occasions to support him.

However, his conviction on false accounting has led me to see him in a different light.

His statement: "I remain grossly insulted and distressed by the treatment I have received after 25 years of dedicated public service" is more than a little surprising. He, of all people, should understand that one simply cannot expect to offset crime or illegal activities in one area against charity or service in another.

The highest standards of probity in public life are an essential part of public confidence. On a number of occasions since becoming a councillor I have been told "You (councillors) are all on the 'make', some just make more than others!"

This is a perception held by some which is emphatically untrue but is hard to dispel when local "'politicians" become involved in adverse publicity.

On Friday, June 9 2000, in the case Regina v Robert Geoffrey Heseltine, Judge Fox, having considered the evidence and mitigating circumstances, delivered his sentence thus: "The seriousness of it (the dishonesty) lies in the repetition and the period of time over three years."

He later goes on: "By reason of these offences you have brought shame and disgrace to yourself, your public office, and by the length of time of that dishonesty you have in my judgment at least shown yourself unworthy of public office because you are not to be trusted.

"In almost every single case those who hold considerable public office as you did during this dishonesty must go to prison. I am able today, just - and I emphasise "just" - able to avoid that for you. I cannot tell you how close you have got to going to prison on this occasion."

On June 28 2000, the Standards Committee of North Yorkshire County Council resolved that County Councillor R G Heseltine had brought the county council into disrepute.

The voters of Skipton East will eventually make their choice. They should be able to do so on the basis of the fullest information.

John Sayer,

Low Ryelands,

Arncliffe.

Independent

SIR - As one of the two new Barnoldswick town councillors recently appointed, I take great exception to the letter from the staunch Labour supporter, Mr Skinner, describing me as a "placeman for the Liberals".

I am a 100 per cent Independent councillor, beholden to no political party. I am also of the opinion that common sense and a bit of business acumen, not politics, is what we need to improve local government.

One of the latest unsuccessful candidates (a person who Mr Skinner obviously supports), despite being described as an Independent, stood as a Labour candidate less than a year ago in the local elections.

Although I am new to local government, I have served on many committees in the past. One of the first things I learned was that if you cannot gracefully accept a vote going against you, even by the narrowest margin, there is no place for you on any committee, let alone the town council.

Finally, we do not get personal expenses and any accounts and attendance records are open to the public.

John Broughton.

Barnoldswick town councillor,

Kelbrook Road,

Barnoldswick.

Horrified

SIR - "Schizophrenic threatened couple with knife" (Craven Herald March 30). Of course the above headline drew my immediate and complete attention, perhaps with different preconceptions than many people, since my brother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and has done for 30 years.

He has never harmed any member of the public, but has been a victim of several attacks, thefts and burglaries. I use the word 'suffers' because it implies pain. Believe me, mental illness is very painful. The pain is exacerbated by the stigma he and most other sufferers experience.

So I was horrified to conclude, after reading the entire article in the Craven Herald, that it seemed to be Mr Gregson who was the victim of two un-named people he knew, and who presumably knew of his mental health problem. They had invaded his space with intent to confront him over a request to change the access date for seeing his son so that he could go to a funeral.

He was likely to be feeling grief for the deceased, and upset at being refused his seemingly reasonable request. No wonder he sought to defend himself in his own home. It was also said that he had drunk four cans of lager on top of his medication. Maybe the alcohol was more the cause of his behaviour than the illness.

Perhaps when reporting similar cases in future, you could modify your headlines to more accurately reflect the facts, and reduce the stigmatising effect of 'mentalist' words. It is only a very small proportion of paranoid schizophrenia sufferers who harm others, and the fear of the stigma might make undiagnosed mentally ill people go underground, and run from the help they need.

Loretta Gooch

Secretary, Craven Mind,

Midland Terrace,

Hellifield.

Major concern

SIR - The Government is planning to bring in a new Mental Health Act - and that is something that should concern everyone living in Airedale. One in four adults will experience mental health problems over the next year.

The last Mental Health Act was produced in 1983, nearly 20 years ago. The new Mental Health Act is expected to last just as long - so it is vital that it is designed to support and help people.

Members of Airedale Manic Depression Fellowship Group and Craven Mind believe the new Act should concentrate on reducing the need to use compulsion in treatment, and provide a legal right to a comprehensive mental health assessment when needed.

Accessing quality services at the time they are needed would make the most dramatic improvement to people's lives.

New legislation needs to be backed by increased legislation. Mental health is an issue for everyone. If the people of Airedale can help to persuade our local MPs to stand up for these principles when the new Act goes through Parliament, we will all be better off.

Peter Van Der Gucht,

on behalf of Airedale MDF

Group and Craven Mind,

c/o North Yorkshire Social

Services,

Airedale Hospital, Steeton.

Easy target

SIR - I would like to make it clear that I have no argument with the lorry drivers who service the quarries around Settle. My argument is with the North Yorkshire authority which is responsible for the condition of the road, in particular, the installation of "humps for 190 metres".

I was born in the centre of an industrial area - two-and-a-half miles outside Wolverhampton. At night I could see the red glow of the steel furnaces in the sky from my bed. There was a machine shop at the bottom of our garden. Sometimes our street was filled to ground level by thick, yellow, acrid, sulphuric smoke.

I spent all of my life working in industry. Most of my family worked on the shop floor of engineering factories. I am not against the quarries or the lorries!

I am, of course, a very easy target for the bullies of this world. To the handful of lorry drivers who have for the past week-and-a-half (since a representative of North Yorkshire approached you in respect of driving over the humps) taken the trouble to detour from Skipton Road, via Cammock Lane and Station Road, and pass beneath my bedroom window early in the morning, I am surprised that you can afford the extra fuel and time required for this detour.

You diminish your credibility and integrity by this petty and small-minded form of intimidation and also that of your colleagues who do not resort to these actions. Why not try talking to me, as Winston Churchill said "Better jaw, jaw, jaw, than war, war, war!"

Could not we all try to hump the "humps"?

Mrs Sandra M Price,

Artisans,

Station Road, Settle.

Do your bit

SIR - At this time of crisis for so many people, we, the owners of our canine friends, could "do our bit" for the community and for social awareness by cleaning up our dog's excrement.

There are few walks to take dogs at the moment, and some of them (especially the path between Ribble Terrace and Kings Mill in Settle) are rapidly becoming a health hazard because of the piles of excrement every other step.

Please dog owners, carry some plastic bags, pick it up, and put it in your own wheelie bin if a dog bin isn't in the vicinity. This would be a great help all the time, but especially now.

Valerie Rogerson,

Giggleswick.