Council Leader says Keegan's removal was due to his conduct

Earlier this month Councillor Frank Keegan was axed from the cabinet, losing his job as Resources Portfolio Holder at Cheshire East Council.

At the time all Councillor Wesley Fitzgerald would say is "The change of Cabinet is an internal matter which I am dealing with. I am not prepared to comment further at this time."

The shocking news has resulted in a lot of speculation about what really happened and why Councillor Keegan, who took over the Finance Portfolio in 2006, was sacked.

This week the leader of Cheshire East Council, Councillor Wesley Fitzgerald, released the following statement in response to recent press reports.

"I am aware that there has been much speculation around the recent removal of Cllr Frank Keegan from the Cabinet position that held responsibility for finance.

"Much of what has been reported in the local press alludes to the fact that there was disagreement between myself and Cllr Keegan about the difficult financial decisions that this Council has to make in order to deliver a balanced budget.

"I would like to make it clear that the reason Cllr Keegan was removed from Cabinet was as a result of his conduct and behaviour when relating to Senior Officers and Council members when discussing issues relating to the day-to-day operation of this Council.

"In response to speculation that Cheshire East is now without financial leadership, I must make it clear that the challenges faced have been explored in depth and a strategy has been developed to tackle them through the good work of the Efficiency Group. This was set up in August this year, specifically to deal with these issues and consisted of Councillors Keegan and Menlove and Senior Officers.

"The group has met on a weekly basis since August, and has scrutinised in detail the budget and the financial challenges for this Council. As a result of the excellent work of this group, recommendations are now being finally assessed by myself and a group of Cabinet members and Senior Officers.

"As Leader of this Council I would like to reassure everyone that, whilst Cheshire East, like all other authorities, is facing the effects of the comprehensive spending review, I am confident that the difficult decisions we have to make will bring long-term financial stability to the excellent services we deliver as we move forward."

Update: I have spoken to Councillor Keegan this week and he has issued the following statement in response to Councillor Fitzgerald's statement above:

"I was Chairman of the Efficiency Group and it will surprise no one to learn that neither senior officers nor senior members give up their budgets easily. The current situation meant that we had to focus on essential services, such as protecting the vulnerable and promoting economic revitalisation, and to cut the 'nice to have in a good year' items. I make no apology for taking that line with senior members or for robustly challenging officers - I regard that as one of the reasons why I was elected as a Councillor".