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Nuclear Piggy Bank
PRESS NOTICE.
2nd December 2022
A Complaint has been sent to the Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary about a Lead Member of Copeland Borough Council.
Over 20 Copeland residents (along with other signatories) have signed a letter of complaint to Chief Constable Michelle Skeer about the Portfolio Holder for Nuclear, and Lead Member of the Council Executive. Councillor David Moore has failed to declare financial interests at Copeland Borough Council Meetings.
This failure to declare financial interests came to light at an Executive meeting in July. A petition from tens of thousands of members of the public condemning seismic testing of the subsea area for a Geological Disposal Facility off the Copeland coast, was presented to the Executive of Copeland Borough Council.
The letter states “It would be completely in the interests of the civil nuclear industry to disparage opponents of the project and Councillor Moore was quick to publicly dismiss petitioners as out-of-borough and ‘odd people’ but completely failed to declare at the meeting that he receives payment from that same industry for his services.” Nuclear Waste Services who commissioned the seismic testing is a division of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-62397013
The letter goes on to say that: “Under the Localism Act of 2011, it is a criminal offence if, without a reasonable excuse, an elected member (Councillor) fails to tell their Council’s monitoring officer about their disclosable pecuniary interests, either for inclusion in the register held by that officer or at any meeting where a matter relating to those interests will be discussed or on any matter related to those interests where that elected member is acting alone (for example, where that elected member is also a portfolio holder with devolved responsibilities).
The complaint concludes that:
“In our view, Councillor David Moore has committed numerous offences under the Localism Act of 2011 in:
Failing to declare disclosable pecuniary interests
Acting alone on Council business where he has disclosable pecuniary interests
Participating in Council business where he has disclosable pecuniary interests
And he also acted in complete contravention to his oath of office to always conduct himself in accordance with the Seven Nolan Principles of Public Office.” And calls upon the “Chief Constable to take prompt and effective action on the contents of this letter.”
ENDS
Extract from Letter - Full Letter Below Without Names and Addresses
Councillor David Moore’s pecuniary interests
Councillor David Moore holds two external offices from which he gains £11,300 per annum, namely:
As Chair of Nuleaf (the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum), an office for which he gains £5,000 per annum.
As Chair of the West Cumbria Site Stakeholder Group (WCSSG), an office for which he gains £6,300 per annum.
These sums are both remitted by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a public funded agency responsible for the decommissioning of former nuclear power sites and for the management, transport and disposal of radioactive waste arising from the operation of civil nuclear reactors and from military nuclear operations.
The allowance paid to the Chair of the WCSSG can be found here:
In Cumbria, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority operates two such sites as Sellafield and Drigg. Councillor Moore as Chair of the West Cumbria Site Stakeholder Group has ultimate oversight over these operations.
Councillor David Moore is also the Portfolio Holder for Nuclear and Corporate Services. For this he receives an allowance from Copeland Council.