A suspended Labour MP has been accused of bullying and harassment by staff at a local authority. The allegations relate to Dan Norris in his role as Mayor of the West of England.
The authority is said to have handed over hundreds of thousands of pounds in taxpayers’ money to pay off former employees, reports have claimed. Labour suspended the MP after he was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl and rape.
The party confirmed on Saturday night that it had suspended Norris, 65.
The MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, who has previously worked as a teacher and an NSPCC-trained child protection officer, also lost the party whip in the House of Commons.
Avon and Somerset Police said that a man in his 60s was arrested on Friday and has subsequently been released on conditional bail.
The Telegraph has reportedly seen documents which detail allegations about Norris’s behaviour at the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), which he leads as mayor.
This includes a “proposal regarding a culture review”, which came after a grievance was raised against Norris for alleged harassment, bullying and constructive dismissal.
It noted that a staff survey in October 2023 had raised concerns that there was “a need to ‘protect officers from the mayor’.”
There had been an “unprecedented level of turnover” within some teams because of Norris’s “actions and decisions”, one union boss alleged.
A “dissatisfaction with the quality of interaction” with Norris and his office had been cited by a number of senior employees who had quit Weca since he was elected to the role in 2021.
A spokesman for Weca said: “We are aware of Avon & Somerset Police’s statement but are unable to comment on an ongoing police investigation.”
