Giving the Redbridge Monitoring Officer an opportunity to carry out a belated Nolan Standards investigation into Jas Athwal MP

Giving the Redbridge Monitoring Officer an opportunity to carry out a belated Nolan Standards investigation into Jas Athwal MP


I cut and past an email below sent to Ms Sandhu, the Redbridge monitoring officer on 7th February at 20.18. Ms Sandu does not appear to be doing her duty to carry out a Nolan standards investigation into Jas Athwal. 

Dear Ms Sandhu

 

Marwan Elfallah has sent me an email of yours yesterday which contains the following paragraph:-
 

“In terms of your reference to Mr Athwal, we confirm he was treated just like any other landlord, as is expected.  In all cases we carry out a thorough investigation and in respect of which there can be four outcomes: no action required; or the landlord is expected to comply and rectify any faults or other non-compliance; or at times the matter may be considered for a Fixed Penalty Notice; or referred to Court for prosecution  or otherwise to the First Tier Tribunal.  Only if the individual concerned is prosecuted and convicted will some of the information become a matter of public record.” ENDS EXTRACT

 

That paragraph is new information to me, as all enquiries by me about an investigation into Jas Athwal via freedom of information have been denied on privacy grounds. Your email implies that Jas Athwal has not been investigated for a breach of the Nolan standards. Angela Rayner MP, David Lammy MP & Rachel Reeves MP have all been investigated for a Nolan breach. The outcome of these investigations have been published. Why is Jas Athwal not the subject of a Nolan investigation when all these MPs have been? 
 

The lack of a Nolan Council investigation into Jas Athwal by yourself suggests misconduct in public office. However, I would be grateful if you could advise me at your earliest convenience if a belated Nolan Investigation will take place now. Commencing an investigation now, although late in the day, would be substantial mitigation against any sentence for misconduct in public office finding against you in due course. 


For those who read this email when published on the internet, Nolan investigations are triggered when an elected representative has breached the Nolan code which Jas Athwal clearly did with his unlicensed slum properties.  The difference between a Nolan investigation and the Landlord investigation you report is that a Nolan investigation conclusion is published, even if the elected representative is cleared. 
 

Your email states Mr Athwal's conduct does not merit a fine, however, Redbridge's own internal guides and an appeal case involving Judge Rogers and Redbridge Council (Landlord wins court battle with Redbridge Council over fine | London Now ) suggest he should have been fined. Public confidence in the rule of law in Redbridge requires a Nolan investigation to take place into Jas Athwal immediately and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.


 

Regards


 

Andy Walker



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jas Athwal MP and the Rogue Landlord Allegations: A Year On, Still No Transparency

It’s now been almost a year since Jas Athwal MP was accused of being a rogue landlord following a BBC investigation in August 2024. The investigation revealed serious issues in several properties linked to Athwal, including unlicensed rentals, ant infestations, and dangerous black mold. Since the report, Athwal has publicly shifted blame onto his property agent—an individual he still refuses to name. As concerned residents and members of the public, we have every right to ask: Has Jas Athwal been fined? Was he investigated at all? Why the continued silence? A Trail of Freedom of Information Requests Since the initial report, several Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have been submitted to Redbridge Council in an effort to determine whether Athwal has been held accountable. Unfortunately, these requests have revealed more about the opacity of the system than about the case itself. The first FOI response claimed that the council held no paper or electronic records indicating whether ...
Read more

David Lammy MP, Angela Rayner MP, Rachel Reeves MP and Cllr Michael Situ were all investigated: Why not Jas Athwal MP?

 I sent this to   Claire Hamilton and Councillor Rai yesterday. I will write more after the 27th November. Dear Claire Hamilton and Councillor Rai   Recent developments suggest Redbridge should carry out and publish the outcome of any investigation into whether Jas Athwal MP should have been fined for not having a landlord licence and his sub-standard flats. I rely on breaches of the Nolan code which led to investigations into the conduct of David Lammy MP, Angela Rayner MP, Rachel Reeves MP and Cllr Michael Situ.     Cllr Situ's lack of a licence has led to a report in the Evening Standard which stated - “ The matter has also been referred to the council’s Monitoring Officer for investigation.” So far Redbridge is refusing to say if an investigation into Mr Athwal has taken place following the Joe Pike BBC story last year.  This is unacceptable; there should have two investigations, one by the monitoring officer and another by your landlord enforcemen...
Read more

Report from 10 Downing trip

Image
 Photos from yesterday Letter delivered Video of Cllr Noor outside number 10 This is Andy Walker below: The text is below The tests set out by Judge Martin Rodger QC  in a case dated 29 th July 2021 involving Redbridge Council suggest Jas Athwal should have been fined by now for not having a landlord licence and the sub-standard condition of his flats. However, Mr Athwal does not appear to have been fined. Residents are pursuing Redbridge Council for key documents via freedom of information as to what has gone on. However, the Council is either ignoring requests or taking a very long time to reply. This is unacceptable as it could take years to find out the truth. So Sir Keir, I ask you to investigate this matter because if there has a been a cover up it could be mean the criminal offence of misconduct in public office has taken place and it must be right that this issue is resolved as soon as possible.
Read more