Neil Wilby Media

An exclusive published by Neil Wilby Media earlier this week, as is the way with these things, has led to more exposure of alleged wrongdoing.

Headlined ‘Independent councillor faces Localism Act complaints’ it featured, arguably, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council‘s most unpopular elected Member, Cllr Marc Hince (pictured above left). He was controversially elected to represent the Shaw ward last May. The article can be read in full here.

It spawned a barrage of familiar arrogance, abuse and numerous threats of legal action (that are yet to materialise) from Cllr Hince and a complete rebuttal from him of any wrongdoing in lawfully registering his interests with that Council. Claiming that a lawyer has confirmed his stance.

Regrettably, the facts and publicly accessible documents appear to be against him and it is unclear whether Cllr Hince availed his adviser of the full complement of the evidence available. If, indeed, such a consultation took place in the very limited time that elapsed between emails.

As is the steadfast and repeated refusal of Cllr Hince to answer straight questions with straight answers. A familiar trait of an elected official known locally and irreverently as ‘The Secret Squirrel’.

Moreover, the ongoing investigations, known to involve for the present, at least,  Oldham Council’s Monitoring Officer and, latterly, it is believed, the local police force, will likely uncover further transgressions connecting his wife, fellow Shaw and Crompton Parish Council elected Member, Sarah Hince (pictured above right), to his own alleged misdemeanours, and, it seems, deliberate opacity, surrounding a company – ANP Community Services Ltd  (“ANP” hereafter) – in which she is a Director and her husband is Company Secretary. The ANP records at Companies House can be viewed here.

As a Registered Nurse, Matron and co-owner of at least one medical practice in Oldham Borough, the ramifications for Mrs Hince are, potentially and obviously, more serious (no disrespect is intended in not prefixing Mrs Hince’s name with ‘Cllr’. It is simply to avoid confusion to the reader in a report that is probably hard enough to follow, in any event).

Briefly, and to save repeating the thrust of the previous article, Cllr Hince, on his OMBC Register of Interests (read here), has noted his pecuniary interest in wife’s various health service positions, but not his position in ANP. On his Shaw and Crompton Parish Council Register (read here) he has recorded his involvement with ANP, but mis-spelled it, deliberately or otherwise, as ‘AWP’.

Mrs Hince’s Parish Council Register of Interests, which can be read here, makes no mention at all of ANP.

The Registered Office of ANP is at the home address of Mr and Mrs Hince in Shaw. The latter owns all 100 £1 shares in the company. Its current Capital and Reserves are modest, £398 down from £660 in the previous financial year (read here). Proof that it is an active company.

Sarah Hince’s handle on the social media platform, Twitter (or ‘X’ if one prefers), is @ANPSarahHince. Which is of interest, of course, in the context of the company’s significance to her, either personally, or professionally, or both.

After the threats of legal action from Marc Hince, and the subsequent further enquiries made by Neil Wilby, the author of this article, which led to the uncovering of the irregularities concerning ANP and Sarah Hince, the Clerk of the Parish Council, Tony Hilton, was informed and an email was sent to her, shortly afterwards, in these terms:

“I refer to the below email sent a short time ago to the Clerk at Shaw and Crompton Parish Council (who is copied into this email).

“As a gesture of goodwill – and because (i) I genuinely believe that you have been put in an iniquitous position by your husband’s apparent misdemeanours (ii) it better serves the public interest – you are given an opportunity to provide an explanation regarding the chicanery over the various declarations and non-declarations of pecuniary interests in ANP Community Services Ltd and, of course, its connections to medical practices in the Saddleworth Parish.

“Accordingly, there remains an opportunity to settle this matter without a formal complaint against you being submitted to SCPC because I am the complainant. But I have no influence over separate complaints already made against Marc Hince to Oldham MBC which cover, in part, similar ground.

“I am planning to write a new article, featuring the complaints to SCPC, if they do proceed, tomorrow afternoon/evening, so you do have some time to reflect on your own position, take appropriate advice and decide whether you wish to compromise or tough it out with the Monitoring Officer and, possibly, beyond.

“It may assist you to know – and guide your decision making – that, as mentioned to your husband earlier, I am now aware of the purpose of forming ANP Community Services Ltd and its ongoing function. Which, of course, gives a better understanding of the lengths already travelled by your husband to seek to conceal those matters from the two councils upon which he is an elected Member and the residents of Shaw, Crompton and Oldham Borough. That is where the real public interest lies.

“Will leave it with you: There is no pressure, either way, from this quarter.”

Sarah Hince did not acknowledge or respond to that email, of itself a further breach of the Parish Council’s Code of Conduct, and very surprising given its conciliatory nature and the likely consequences for her both as a Parish councillor and as a National Health Service functionary in a position of great public trust. She is, amongst a number of other key healthcare roles, a Nurse Director for Oldham East Primary Care Network.

The matter will now be escalated by way of formal complaints against her and further complaints against Marc Hince, whose case, based around a lengthy submission from a local whistleblower, is already being assessed by Greater Manchester Police.

Failure to record, or mis-recording, pecuniary interests is, at its highest, an offence under section 30 of the Localism Act, 2011 and there is a very recent precedent of a local councillor, the Deputy Leader of Ashfield District Council, Cllr Tom Hollis, successfully prosecuted on the failure to record basis. A report about that case, posted on the Local Government Lawyer website, can be read here. It shows that there does not have to be a finding of either dishonesty or financial gain for the offence to be made out. Cllr Hollis was fined £2,400.

After the hearing, Cllr Hollis said: “Today, I pleaded guilty to a technicality of a paperwork error. My only crime was lending a friend some money, and I didn’t record that loan as it was just to a friend. There have been no complaints about wrongdoing or any personal gain of any kind.”

It is understood that a close relative of Sarah Hince is a local government lawyer in the Greater Manchester area and it is reasonable to assume that he is well aware of the Cllr Hollis case.

Page last updated: Thursday 14th March, 2024 at 2355 hours

Thank you for reading and a polite request: If you feel this article is of value and in the public interest, and wish to make a contribution to the running costs of this website, it would be very much appreciated. Donations can made securely (and anonymously if required), via Buy Me A Coffee at this link or via PayPal at this link.

Corrections: Please let me know if there is a mistake in this article. I will endeavour to correct it as soon as possible.

Picture credit: 

Right of reply: If you are mentioned in this article and disagree with it, please let me have your comments. Provided your response is not defamatory it will be added to the article.

© Neil Wilby 2015-2024. Unauthorised use, or reproduction, of the material contained in this article, without permission from the author, is strictly prohibited. Extracts from, and links to, the article (or blog) may be used, provided that credit is given to Neil Wilby Media, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.