Councillor Rekha Shah was wide of the mark in blaming the Conservative administration for what took place at Harrow Association of Voluntary Services (HAVS) last year concerning the investigation into the misappropriation of funds by PricewaterhouseCoopers (‘HAVS — Lab blames Tory rivals’, Harrow Times, February 17). Let me explain what happened.
Last June at the HAVS board meeting following the former chief executive’s resignation I, as the only council-appointed Conservative trustee present, was asked to leave the meeting by the trustees, including Labour councillors Rekha Shah and Mrinal Choudhury.
This was unlawful as I was a London Borough of Harrow representative. They were insistent in their demand so I withdrew as they said that they would not hold the meeting while I was present. Furthermore, they said that part of the reason was that they wanted to invite the chief executive to return to her job.
I do not think they realised the seriousness of the situation or perhaps wanted to sweep the matter under the carpet. Harrow Council officers behaved in an exemplary fashion by promptly commissioning the investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers into the matter, which was conclusive it its findings.
It is reprehensible and bad practice that a charitable organisation even contemplates paying bonuses to anyone within its organisation, particularly as other people within the organisation are working for nothing as volunteers. This is public money from the taxpayer which should be spent wisely. As a trustee, I did take my responsibilities seriously and was prepared to take a firm stand.
From my experience I would like to say that what happened at HAVS is not representative of the voluntary sector in Harrow, which is predominantly well run and focussed on the objective of providing good services.
Cllr Joyce Nickolay
HAVS trustee
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