Zack Polanski was cleared by the Greater London Authority over a complaint about alleged failure to pay council tax on a houseboat in Hackney. A GLA monitoring officer said on Thursday that no further action was needed and the case was closed.
Last month, Conservative Assembly Member Neil Garratt filed the grievance, arguing the complaint touched on Polanski's role as a London assembly member because he voted on the mayor's budget and could influence the level of council tax Londoners pay via the mayoral precept. Polanski's lawyers rejected the complaint as based on assumptions rather than established facts.
GLA monitoring officer
The monitoring officer said the matter "relates to the member's personal living arrangements" and "does not have a sufficient connection to his role as an assembly member." That decision ended the conduct complaint without a further probe, and it closed the case that had been opened after reports that Polanski was registered to vote at a marina address in east London but was not paying council tax.
Garratt had suggested in his submission that Polanski breached the Nolan Principles and the GLA code of conduct. He wrote: "As a London assembly member, Mr Polanski is responsible for voting to approve or reject the mayor's budget, and in doing so has the capacity to influence and set the level of council tax that Londoners pay via the mayoral precept."
Polanski and Garratt
Polanski said he believed any charges linked to the mooring, including council tax, were covered by the fees he paid, and that there was no intention to evade payment. He also said the grievances were "politically motivated and not made in good faith."
Garratt responded to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Polanski had avoided consequences "the same way he avoided council tax: through happy accidents and gaps in legislation." He also said: "It is beyond parody that a left-wing politician who will take to the stage to demand other people pay their share of taxes, has then gone home and not paid his own or endeavoured to find out what tax he owes."
Green Party response
A Green Party spokesperson said Polanski had "taken steps to pay any council tax he may be found to owe" and added: "Zack apologises sincerely for the unintentional mistake." The complaint has now been closed, leaving the wider question of what the mooring fees covered in this case unresolved in the public record.
