A complaint about Newcastle City Council's intervention in the running of a mental health charity has been rejected by the local government ombudsman Patricia Thomas.
The complainants alleged that "inappropriate and manipulative" intervention by the council, and in particular one council officer, had caused the collapse of the charity.
However, the ombudsman found the charity to have been in "organisational chaos and financial ruin".
"At the root of its problems was the loss of expertise over time within the executive committee."
While the ombudsman's report acknowledges that the charity's demise came as a shock to its members, staff and clients, it concludes that"for some, the pain of acknowledging that they might bear some responsibility was too great and the search for a scapegoat began".
A senior development officer within the social services administration and finance division became the scapegoat and was vilified, states the ombudsman. She added that she found no maladministration on the council's part.
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