Issue - meetings

NOT FOR PUBLICATION: The report relates to an item (item 18) during which the public is likely to be excluded from the meeting by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

The Committee received a report from the Director of Resources regarding the General Debts Write Off relating to the Folk Festival debt.

Councillor Herbert stated that in his view this item had been poorly titled on the agenda and that not enough notice had been given to allow full debate of the issues or to inform the public of the decision. The Director of Resources stated that the write off item was a standard agenda item and had been on the Forward Plan for the required period.

Councillor Herbert suggested that the Council’s money had been asset stripped in 2009 and insufficient effort had gone into tracing it and the Council had not conducted an independent inquiry using Price, Waterhouse and Cooper. Writing off the money would send the wrong message and would suggest the matter was closed.

The Chief Executive stated that Price, Waterhouse and Cooper had been part of the Members Inquiry that reported in 2009. It was inaccurate to say insufficient effort had gone into chasing the debt. Advice had been taken and the Council had been diligent in its pursuit of the money using the avenues open to it. However, the latest advice was that further expenditure on pursuit of the debt was unlikely to yield any return.

The Head of Legal Services stated that civil action against the directors was planned for November. Should any funds come to light by this action, they could still be pursued.

Councillor Bick concluded that all members wanted the return of the money. However, a judgement needed to made regarding spending more to pursue the lost funds. The advice given by professionals was to write the money off. This was technical accounting measure. The case could be re-opened in the future, should there be any possibility of recovering any of the funds.

The Committee resolved by 4 votes to 4 and Chair’s casting vote to endorse the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendation.

Conflicts of interest declared by the Executive Councillor (and any dispensations granted)

Not applicable.