THERE is confusion surrounding the state of Welshpool Town Council following the rumoured suspension of the town clerk, Robert Robinson.

Questions have been avoided, a council meeting has been held in private and it looks as if other council business has ground to a halt.

At the last full council meeting, held last Wednesday, September 25, the public and press were told to leave after around 15 minutes as the council entered private session; presumably to discuss the position of Robert Robinson.

It was said in the unusually short, one-page agenda that the section of the meeting was confidential as it would involve the “likely disclosure of confidential information on contracts, staffing matters and security”.

In opening the meeting, the mayor and chair of the council, Steve Kaye, introduced David Preston, the recently retired town clerk of Oswestry Town Council.

“I thank him very much for stepping up to help me to go through what we have got to go through,” Cllr Kaye said.

Although Mr Preston clerked the meeting, he said, addressing the County Times: “I am not the town clerk or filling that role at this time.”

The only motion publicly discussed was where the responsibilities of staff duties lay and the need to consider the engagement of professional advice in the future.

Usually, motions put forward by the town council’s five committees make up the vast majority of the meetings. However, there were none.

Cllr Kaye said the motions from the committees will be discussed at the next full meeting. No minutes from any of the committee meetings have been published on the town council’s website, and the County Times received no response when asking if the meetings took place.

Meanwhile, it appears fire wardens are still in place at the town hall, a month after the town council announced they were put in place due to a fault with the fire alarms.

The County Times has also asked the council to give an update on this issue, but is yet to receive a response.

The reasons behind the alleged suspension of Robert Robinson remain unconfirmed, even after last week’s town council meeting.

There is no ombudsman for council staff, like there is for councillors or councils. Therefore it is only the town council, which remains tight lipped, that can clarify the situation.