I WAS present at the meeting at the Town Hall where the report on the ex-leader Councillor Ivan Taylor was made public and it appeared to me that he admitted to not declaring his half ownership in a house in the members' interest book from the year of its acquisition in 1993 to his entry in 2000.

I understand that also appearing in the report was the information that such an act was a criminal offence but that Coun Taylor's unfortunate omission could not be investigated as it was "out of time".

I believe that the limitation period is six months after which no action can be taken and so I am curious to know how it is that the Monitoring Officer did not begin an investigation as soon as he was made aware of the omission?

I remember writing about the Monitoring Officer's duty some time ago in your paper and I was rewarded with a public and private letter from Mr Essex-Crosby, presumably in his capacity as Monitoring Officer, informing me that he had no such duty.

He relied on the fact that the law was about to change and as the Standards Committee had only just been set up and as certain parts of the new legislation had not yet come into force, he was not able to "trigger" the investigation.

It would appear that Mr Essex-Crosby was under the impression that the law is suspended while it waits for new regulations to come into force but I do not believe this to be the case.

As Mr. Essex-Crosby is an accountant, I wonder who he consults about such legal matters, for in this case it would appear that he received bad advice.

Incidentally, the new legislation stipulates that the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Executive cannot be the same person and so Mr Essex-Crosby has appointed Mr Eccles, the head of the legal and democratic department to that job.

I wonder, after doffing that hat, if he also took a cut in salary?

Beverley Moy,

Blackpool 1st Alliance, Blackpool.