Norfolk councillor reported to police over £10k charity pledge
Taila Taylor has been accused of potential misconduct and misuse of funds in a public office by her fellow councillors
A Norfolk councillor has been reported to the police after she declined to confirm whether she donated £10,000, given to her as part of a legal settlement with her own council, to charity.
Taila Taylor, a prominent Conservative who serves on both Breckland and Attleborough Town Council (ATC), has been accused of potential misconduct and misuse of funds in a public office by her fellow councillors.
The formal complaint to Sarah Taylor, Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, has been signed by five Attleborough councillors, who have called for an investigation into whether Ms Taylor failed to fulfil a legal agreement which required her to donate £10,000 to charity.
The controversy stems from a 2020 dispute when Ms Taylor and fellow councillor Edward Tyrer were removed from their committee roles following bullying allegations made by council staff.
A judge later ruled the move unlawful, leaving the authority with a £114,000 bill.
Ms Taylor received £20,000 in damages as part of the resulting settlement.
That agreement included a clause requiring her to donate £10,000 to a local Attleborough charity or project within 12 months – conditional on the council fulfilling its own obligations under the deal.
Nearly five years on, Ms Taylor, who is an ally of Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, has repeatedly refused to say whether the donation was ever made.
When pressed at council meetings and by this newspaper, she maintained the agreement was protected by legal privilege and that she was under no obligation to disclose her personal financial decisions.
She has argued the council had failed to fulfil its terms of the settlement, by leaving defamatory material online and later removing a required public apology from its website – therefore excusing her from the charitable obligation.
Mr Freeman, Sam-Chapman-Allen, the leader of Breckland, and the Mid Norfolk Conservatives have been approached for comment over her stance but are yet to respond.
The email to the police, which was sent on Tuesday afternoon, has been co-signed by five councillors on Attleborough Town Council who are part of a group known as the Newbies.
The collective, which is made up of Reform and independent councillors, have risen in power of late and posed a challenge to Ms Taylor, her mother and grandfather, who are part of a group that has previously wielded authority over decision making.
The groups have engaged in frequent clashes at meetings, creating a long period of bitter in-fighting and public frustrations which has earned the town nicknames such as “Battleborough” and “Aggroborough”.
Taila Taylor and the Police and Crime Commissioner have been approached for comment over the complaint.