This financial year Oakham Town Council spent a quarter of its Council Tax income setting up friends or associate in business. It spent a total of £64,000 of local residents money on this private enterprise.
The council has let the gym for less than the market value and over the six years of the lease will make
a loss.
At no time did any councillor declare they knew any of the directors of Body Power Fitness Centre.
This included the Mayor Councillor Alf Dewis, who would come into contact with one of the directors, through his various committee roles.
I have asked Leicestershire Police to look into to this and they have ignored me twice.
I have written to my MP Alan Duncan and he has ignored me regarding this matter.
I spoke to Geoff Pook at Rutland County Council, he gave me the wrong advice, he said
I should raise the issue of value for money.
I contacted the councils auditor and carefully explained my concerns.
I am pleased to say they have responded and will be considering those concerns
The reply from the Auditor mentions the tendering process, Oakham Town Council decided not
to tender.
It is my view Oakham Town Council is corrupt and until the local residents get over their serious
case of apathy and take control of this council, which is currently run by 8 unelected people and a
over paid Clerk, incidents like this will continue to be repeated.
The Council has reached the point of the year where it will be considering grant applications where it gives out public money to the same old groups often made up of members of the old guard.
lets hope this year there wont be any applications from dodgy councillors, like the one currently being
investigated by Leicester Police Economic Crime Unit.
Lets hope some real community groups come forward this year seeking support.
Dear Mr Brookes
Thank you for your e mail to the Grant Thornton website in December 2012 which has been forwarded to me. I apologise for the delay in responding to you.
Grant Thornton LLP are the appointed external auditors for all small councils in Rutland. I am the senior manager with responsibility for all those small councils including Oakham Town Council (the council).
You have raised concerns over the council’s spending on a gym which is currently let to a private company. You believe the money spent by the council in letting the gym does not represent value for money. You have also raised concerns over the council’s tendering processes and the way it awards contracts. You have not made a formal objection to the accounts of Oakham Town Council.
I attach a copy of the Audit Commission publication “Council accounts: a guide to your rights.” I strongly recommend that you read the leaflet and consider its contents.
As Oakham Town Council’s income and expenditure is less than £6,500,000 it is subject to a limited assurance audit. Currently value for money assessments are not part of the limited assurance regime. As external auditors we conduct a limited assurance audit based on the information contained in the council’s annual return. Therefore we will not be undertaking any value for money work in relation to Oakham Town Council.
However as appointed auditors we have a duty to consider, during the course of our audit, any matters brought to our attention. You have raised concerns over the legality of the council’s expenditure in relation to the letting of the gym and other issues around the tending processes of the council, and the awarding of contracts.
Auditors must apply a balanced and proportionate approach in determining the time and resources to be spent on dealing with matters that come to their attention.
We will consider:
· the significance of the subject matter;
· whether there is a wider public interest in the issues raised;
· whether the substance of the matter has previously been considered by the body’s auditor;
· the costs of dealing with the matter, bearing in mind that these fall directly on the taxpayer; and
· in the case of objections, the rights of both those subject to the objection and the objector.
We consider that the issues you have raised indicate that we should undertake some additional work to ensure that the Council is acting in accordance with its statutory powers. We will therefore make some enquiries about the council’s spending on the gym and the council’s tendering processes. We do not intend to name you as the source of our information, that said we are unable to guarantee you anonymity throughout the audit process.
Depending on the outcome of our initial enquiries of the council it may become necessary to undertake further work. Any further work required to address issues that have arisen from any source falls outside the remit of the standard audit and auditors are entitled to charge additional fees in relation to that work.
