East Cambs Liberal Democrat councillors were shocked to receive a letter yesterday afternoon (8 October) from the Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council Cllr Anna Bailey, tendering her resignation and those of councillors David Ambrose-Smith, David Brown and Joshua Schumann with immediate effect as directors of the council’s two trading companies.

The reason given for the resignation is that the four councillors “have been consistently advised that we cannot, as Directors of the Trading Companies, fully participate in business of the Council in which there are implications for the Companies” and therefore “cannot take part in important debates and motions arising from the new political make-up of the Council”.

The letter goes on to state that officers will be recommending that councillors should no longer be members of the company boards.

It seems extraordinarily irresponsible for Cllrs Bailey and Ambrose-Smith to abandon the board of the council’s main trading company just at the point when it is embarking on the major project of refurbishing the former MOD homes in Ely, leaving the company without the required minimum of four directors.

The resignations of Cllrs Schumann and Brown also leave the council’s waste collection and street cleaning company without the required minimum of directors. The all-councillor Shareholder Meeting of the companies previously arranged for Thursday evening also looks set to go ahead without a full complement of directors to answer questions on the companies’ accounts, performance and business plans.

It appears from Cllr Bailey’s letter that the sole reason for these resignations is to ensure that the Conservative group can vote down any Liberal Democrat proposals on the agenda for the full council next Thursday 17 October.

We are seeking urgent legal advice about the implications of this decision, about which we were given no prior warning.