A senior Bradford Council officer has been dismissed after being suspended for more than a year on full pay for an alleged backlog of work.

John Curtis, who lives in Keighley, has been sacked from his job as a business manager with the Council's housing directorate after going through the authority's disciplinary procedure. He is expected to appeal against the Council findings.

The Council claims he is guilty of gross misconduct because he failed to manage staff or market services effectively. The authority also concluded there had been a backlog of work.

Mr Curtis, who strongly denies the allegations,is also expected to lodge a complaint with an industrial tribunal alleging he was unfairly dismissed and the Council is in breach of contract.

Now a storm has blown up about the length of time the Council takes in dealing with officers going through the complaints procedure. The Council's minority Tory and Liberal Democrat groups say the process should be speeded up because of the high cost to the authority and stress to officers involved in the disputes.

Bradmet boss Ian Charlesworth was suspended for two periods totalling 22 months before leaving the authority on the grounds of ill health. And the Council took more than two years to reach a decision over a complaint by former tourism boss Maria Glot that she had been a victim of discrimination when her job was axed. The Council, which ended the post as part of spending cuts and said it was no longer concentrating on tourism, decided the complaint was unfounded.

Both cases were totally unconnected with Mr Curtis.

Today the Council's deputy leader Councillor Ian Greenwood said they could not comment on any individual member of staff. But he said in general terms it was impossible to put a time limit on hearings because each case was different and treated on an individual basis to ensure justice was served.

Steve Morris, regional officer with the GMB which is representing Mr Curtis confirmed he had been sacked.

Mr Morris said: "Speaking generally, the GMB does not think it appropriate for any employee to suffer the stress of being suspended for a year."

Leader of the Council's Tory group, Councillor Margaret Eaton, said: "It is a concern to that things should drag on for so long at tremendous cost to the authority and causing stress to the person involved."

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