TO many observers, the story of the Bournemouth council chief executive’s £394,000 pay out is as much about Councillor John Beesley as it is about Tony Williams himself.

To some, there appear to be two John Beesleys, one the leader of the council and the other the director of his own company, consultancy firm Hospitality Solutions.

There is no suggestion that he has done anything wrong or broken any rules. But it is sometimes unclear where one John Beesley ends and the other one begins – not least when he walks into the Town Hall.

Mr Beesley, council leader since 2012 and previously planning board chairman, is certainly not shy about promoting his skills in getting things done for clients.

His website says he offers advice on planning for new build hotel and leisure development, as well as hotel, catering and leisure contract management, marketing and more.

“Hospitality Solutions aims to establish a long-term relationship with clients by providing a very reliable, high quality service at a cost effective price,” the site states.

“John Beesley is a highly experienced operator with a strongly developed instinct for identifying and solving problems in the hospitality industry.

“For over 20 years he has successfully worked in all the areas of business where he now offers his expertise, both as an owner operator and as a consultant.”

Mr Beesley, a councillor since the year 2000, is listed as director of the firm alongside Matthew Farrow, and both also run the Yenton Hotel in Gervis Road, East Cliff.

He has been a hotelier in the town for more than 30 years.

Christchurch MP Christopher Chope referred to the Hospitality Solutions website in the Commons on Friday, while, as reported in the Daily Echo, speculating that Mr Williams’ pay out was intended to derail an allegedly planned investigation into whether the leader’s business activities were compromising his council duties.

This was denied by Mr Beesley.

Mr Chope said: “It says to arrange an initial discussion, without any obligation on any of these issues, the person to contact is none other than John Beesley, who is the leader of the council.

“And it was earlier last month that approval was given to a £40 million hotel and apartment redevelopment in Bournemouth, on the site of the former Belvedere Hotel, to build a 131 room hotel with leisure facilities, a sky bar and 66 residential flats, and a basement car park and so on.

“I understand that the developers of that site sought and obtained the advice of none other than the leader of the council when developing their ideas.

“And the leader of the council, not wearing his hat as leader of the council but wearing his hat as a planning consultant, gave them advice and encouraged them to go along and make their pitch to the planning department, the planning department knowing of his involvement as a consultant, although of course not being influenced by the fact he was a leader of the council.”

Mr Beesley has denied ever representing his clients to the planning board.

“I have not made any representations to or at the planning board, nor its members, for clients in my capacity as a hospitality consultant, nor have I attended planning board to observe meetings in this capacity,” he told the Daily Echo.

“The only occasional times I have made deputations to planning board at all have been on behalf of residents of Westbourne and West Cliff ward when they have asked me to represent their views against a particular application.

“On those occasions I have only ever acted in my role as their ward councillor rather than as leader of the council.”

Beesley’s register of interests meets legal requirements, insists council

BOURNEMOUTH council says leader John Beesley’s register of interests meets legal requirements.

The register - the list of financial interests which must be declared by a councillor to avoid a potential conflict of interest - lists both Hospitality Solutions and Platinum Skies Living, although Mr Beesley has not recorded details of any of his clients.

The council’s legal basis apparently differs from the stringent rules applied to MPs in Parliament, who are required to detail all income from salaries, fees, payments in kind and taxable expenses.

MPs are also required to register the names and addresses of business clients, provide a description of the work carried out and the size of any payments received.

The Echo asked Mr Beesley to provide a list of clients which have benefited from his consultancy work, but he declined citing “client confidentiality”.

He said: “I have always declared the appropriate interests fully and accurately since I became a councillor 17 years ago and have always conformed with the spirit and detail of the legal requirements of elected office.”

“However, that does not mean that I am at liberty to provide you with the degree of detail you are seeking in terms of client confidentiality and the fees paid to my private sector business.”

The law states that councils must lay out what members should disclose in their Code of Conduct, which must in turn be based on the 
‘seven principals of public life’.

These are: Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

More specifically, the government states that councillors must “avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work”, and in turn they must “submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary” to ensure accountability.

Under openness, the guidance states that “information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing”.

The Localism Act 2011 and Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 simply state that councillors must disclose “any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain”.