THE leader of the opposition on Cornwall Council, Cllr Linda Taylor, has called for a full external inquiry into matters which led to the resignation of a senior councillor.

Councillor Bob Egerton had served on the Council for 11 years and up until Friday had been the portfolio holder for Planning, Culture and Economy.

Cllr Egerton has accused the local authority and its business group Corserv of covering up the severity of an incident in 2016 in which a Cormac worker suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

’Joe’ (not his real name) suffered life changing injuries and will likely never work again, says Cllr Egerton.

He alleges that Cormac did not report the incident in a timely way and that a report made five weeks later contained significant innaccuracies.

He says that his efforts to see a full investigation carried out and an apology given to the employee in question have been met with a ’wall of silence’.

Cllr Egerton has published documents relating to the case online on his blog and says that ’it is clear that there has been a significant cover up... and that this has been condoned by our chief executive’.

But the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says that it has investigated claims of a ‘cover up’.

A spokesperson said: ‘HSE investigated the concerns raised by Councillor Egerton fully in line with our procedures and wrote to Corserv Cormac Limited reminding the company of its legal obligations for reporting incidents.

‘The HSE investigation into this matter has now concluded.’

In response to Cllr Egerton’s resignation, Cornwall Council leader Julian German made a statement to all council members on Monday.

He said: ‘I want to reassure you that I have investigated the issues that Cllr Egerton has raised and have discussed them with the Chairman of Corserv, who provided assurances about the action they have taken.’

Corserv yesterday issued this statement: ‘We are disappointed by statements made by Councillor Bob Egerton and we fully refute his accusations.

Over the last four years we have supported the employee and their family from an occupational health and long-term financial perspective.

The employee was a much valued and respected member of the Cormac team and we are saddened that this unfortunate accident happened.

Since 2016 we have carried out thorough and vigorous investigations to resolve this matter in a timely manner and ensure a positive outcome for our employee.

This includes working with the Health and Safety Executive, the employee’s family and Cornwall Council, as well as engaging with the employee’s legal team.

We submitted a full report to the Health and Safety Executive, who decided no further action was needed.

The council leader said he had also reviewed the actions of chief executive Kate Kennally in relation to the matter and was ‘satisfied there is no evidence of any negligence on her part’.

But now, Conservative group leader on Cornwall Council Linda Taylor has called for an external investigation into the matter.

In an open letter written to Cornwall Council leader Julian German, she said: ’Councillor Egerton has made some exceedingly forthright criticisms of his former fellow Cabinet Members, the Chief Executive and the Corserv Chief Executive. These are of such a serious nature that the veracity of his statements must be investigated by way of an External Inquiry.

’Cllr Egerton is a well-respected Councillor and the manner of his resignation has made many Councillors question what is the truth about this serious accident.’

Referring to the statement made by Cllr German on Monday, Cllr Taylor says she doesn’t believe that allegations such as those made by Cllr Edgerton ’can just be dismissed in a four line email’.