FRONTLINE staff are threatening legal action against Ryedale District Council over a “shambolic and appalling” meeting to decide their future.

Dozens of the authority’s workers packed the public gallery at a council meeting last Thursday to see a decision made only three weeks earlier overturned.

Members voted to merge revenues and benefits services with Hambleton District Council – getting rid of eight jobs in total.

They used a loophole in the council’s rules to vote again on the plan – which was rejected by 11 votes to 10 at their last full meeting on April 24.

Proposing the motion, Coun Robert Wainwright produced figures to show that Ryedale is less efficient than Hambleton when it comes to processing claims. But these were torn to shreds by workers and fellow councillors who spotted that they had been miscalculated – and in fact proved Ryedale superior.

More controversy unfolded when Coun Lindsay Burr, who signed a motion to allow the debate to go ahead, opposed it on the grounds that no fresh evidence had come to light.

“I have signed the piece of paper on the understanding that when we voted I did not have the full information and I had made a catastrophic decision…. but up until this moment in time I have not heard anything to make me see why we should enter into this partnership,” she said. Coun John Clark was told he was not allowed to speak by chairman Pamela Anderson. Coun Allin Jenkins, voting against the motion, said the initial decision was “a true example of democracy in action”. He added: “Some members may not have liked the result, but in a democracy you should abide by the decision. The bringing of this motion will leave this council open to ridicule and disrepute.”

Coun Stephen Preston, also opposing the motion, said: “This is the first time I have felt disgusted by the actions of this council.”

But the council’s Conservative Party, along with some Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors, pushed the motion through by 16 votes to 11.

Speaking in favour of the decision, Conservative leader Coun Keith Knaggs said: “If any kind of two-tier system in North Yorkshire survives, it will involve more working together, not less. It is hypocritical to say yes, we’ll do that, having just voted down a flagship partnership a year after work on it started.”

Speaking after the meeting, Paul Hunt, branch secretary of the public service union Unison in Ryedale, who has been representing the staff concerned, said he was “extremely disappointed”.

“Ever since that decision was made on April 24 there has been a concerted plot to reverse it,” he said.

“In my view they’ve torn up the rule book. I’m disgusted at how the chairman referred to staff as ‘that lot at the back’, and disgusted that she foreshortened the debate and gagged one of the councillors.

“Although the pretext of the meeting was to reconsider, some members weren’t even allowed to speak - it was undemocratic. We’re appalled that the council came up with those figures and didn’t even bother to check them – it was a shambles.”

He added: “We’re taking legal advice and we’ll be seeking a judicial review. I’m very upset for my colleagues, this is a grave day for Ryedale and I think it’s the first of many. If the council can shed 10 per cent of its workforce, why not more?”

Also speaking after the meeting, Coun Lindsay Burr said she was “appalled and amazed” that it was allowed to continue. She added: “I was prepared to be given further evidence on the debate but that evidence didn’t come forward….. I think staff were treated appallingly throughout this.”

Coun John Clark said he would fully support and legal action taken by the union, and added: “The biggest concern is the treatment of the staff – they were treated like numbers. The real cost to Ryedale will be a bad employee relationship.”

The partnership with Hambleton is a pilot scheme and aims to cut costs by combining the collection of council tax and business rates, as well as the payment of benefits, for both authorities. It will effectively mean that Ryedale residents have their benefits dealt with in either Ryedale or Northallerton.

The scheme is the brainchild of the Department of Work and Pensions’ Centre of Excellence, which has promised a £685,000 grant for the project. Each of the two councils would also contribute £141,000 to make up the total implementation cost of £967,000.

It will take about three years for those initial costs to be recovered through efficiency savings, which are estimated at around £161,000