A REPORT into a “toxic” and “unprofessional” town council in Somerset has been formally thrown out after concerns were raised about its credibility.

The Rolley Report was commissioned by Chard Town Council in October 2022 following eight separate allegations of bullying, which coincided with a high turnover of town council clerks over a ten-year period.

The report was presented to the council in March 2023 and was made public one month later, describing the council as “dysfunctional” and criticising both councillors and officers for a “total lack of strategic vision”.

One year on from its publication, the Rolley Report has now been rescinded after an investigation found it was “not totally independent or unbiased”.

The report was written by Chris Rolley, who runs a Sussex-based consultancy firm, after interviewing a large number past and present employees as well as councillors – though some declined to take part.

Mr Rolley concluded that the high turnover of staff led to the council being seen as “a toxic, confrontational environment, with the same councillors consistently identified as being central to the relationship difficulties.”

He added: “Linked with high turnover of staff, poor morale, little intrinsic knowledge retention, poor officer member relations, poor officer-to-officer relationships resulted in the service delivery being dysfunctional.

“There is no innovation in service delivery whatsoever and no forward thinking as to what services could be better delivered via the town council post-unitary status.

“An endemic culture has been created over many years whereby the differing roles of councillors and officers have been ignored or overruled – a common occurrence in poor-performing councils.”

The town council met on March 18 to discuss the report in confidential session, with the minutes being subsequently published on the council’s official website.

The minutes stated: “It appears that certain aspects of the review were not totally independent or unbiased, and the council will offer an unreserved apology to those affected and rescind the Rolley Report.”

The town council will spend up to £3,000 on legal advice on the wording on these apologies.

Jason Baker, who sits on both the town council and Somerset Council, has welcomed this decision.

He said: “This biased report created an extremely toxic atmosphere at the town council, damaging trust with the public and distracting us from doing what we’re elected to do, which is to represent the people of Chard and do our best for the town.

“I thank our town council officers for undertaking this review and welcome these findings. I now hope we can put this dark chapter behind us and work together.”

Councillor Jenny Kenton, who also sits on both local authorities, added: “This whole report has made life extremely difficult for some councillors with some members of the public targeting councillors relentlessly, particularly on social media.

“Seeing councillors being falsely accused of bullying is not why I got into local government.

“I look forward to a formal apology to all those affected and a period of stability of the council as we deal with the increased responsibilities Chard Town Council is having to take on from Somerset Council.”

But Cllr Connor Payne, who represents Chard on Somerset Council and petitioned for the Rolley Report to be released, said: “I am dismayed by the actions of Chard Town Council on their recent reinterpretation of the Rolley Report.

“To adopt resolutions from it just a few months ago, then to now withdraw it on grounds of bias confuses me a great deal.

“Those who know about the gravity of the situation will only see this as inflammatory.

“It poses a significant amount of questions and puts Chard Town Council in a difficult situation.

“The Rolley Report was paid for by the Chard taxpayer on request of a Chard Town Councillor, and now they’ve voted to ignore it.

“I think it’s only right that independent auditors are brought in to analyse the situation and determine what, or rather who, are the real causes of Chard Town Council’s issues.”

Cllr Martin Wale added: “I have consulted with Connor and a number of town councillors during the process of the Rolling report and can’t understand why it hasn’t been fully implemented.”

Chard Town Council has been approached for a comment.