Financial Controls at Oakham Town Council Finally Start To Work Oakham Deputy Mayor Adam Lowe Loses £200
At long last there is evidence that the Town Council is protecting taxpayers money.
A very time ago a working group was set a task to produce a tourist information leaflet.
Cllr Endid Joyce Lucas BEM, took on the the job and did not do it well and gave up
as she always does.
Cllr Adam Lowe our deputy Mayor got a bit fed up and took over the task himself.
He then decided to go ahead and get a leaflet published and distributed without the
consent of the full council. He presented a bill to the office for payment and this
was turned away, because Cllr Lowe had no authority to spend the money.
At least he was turned away, I am sure he would not have liked to have appeared
in the 2015 - 2016 audit as acting unlawfully, like the Mayor does in the Grant
Thornton Audit for 2014 - 2015 and will again appear in the 2015 -2016 report.
I hope the new councillors and the office keep up this good work and the sloppy
past practices of the old guard don't ever return.
I wonder if the old Mayor who came to a council meeting and slated me and one
of my proposals due to my concerns about the councils financial controls and the
unlawful actions of the council and Cllr Alf Dewis is still a minor thing to be ignored
and "thrown into the gutter"?
It may have been in his time on the council but it is not now in 2016 unlawful
payments and unlawful conduct of Cllrs is never acceptable.
It is a shame Cllr Lowe is out of pocket, all he had to do was wait and ask the
council for approval.
Cllr Alf Dewis is currently try to change the structure of council meetings
and giving delegated powers to committees and one committee proposal is
a great concern, because he wants to restrict the membership of a proposed
new finance and general purpose to 8 members.
It is my opinion this proposed restructuring is to ensure proper oversight of
elected councillors is avoided.
At long last there is evidence that the Town Council is protecting taxpayers money.
A very time ago a working group was set a task to produce a tourist information leaflet.
Cllr Endid Joyce Lucas BEM, took on the the job and did not do it well and gave up
as she always does.
Cllr Adam Lowe our deputy Mayor got a bit fed up and took over the task himself.
He then decided to go ahead and get a leaflet published and distributed without the
consent of the full council. He presented a bill to the office for payment and this
was turned away, because Cllr Lowe had no authority to spend the money.
At least he was turned away, I am sure he would not have liked to have appeared
in the 2015 - 2016 audit as acting unlawfully, like the Mayor does in the Grant
Thornton Audit for 2014 - 2015 and will again appear in the 2015 -2016 report.
I hope the new councillors and the office keep up this good work and the sloppy
past practices of the old guard don't ever return.
I wonder if the old Mayor who came to a council meeting and slated me and one
of my proposals due to my concerns about the councils financial controls and the
unlawful actions of the council and Cllr Alf Dewis is still a minor thing to be ignored
and "thrown into the gutter"?
It may have been in his time on the council but it is not now in 2016 unlawful
payments and unlawful conduct of Cllrs is never acceptable.
It is a shame Cllr Lowe is out of pocket, all he had to do was wait and ask the
council for approval.
Cllr Alf Dewis is currently try to change the structure of council meetings
and giving delegated powers to committees and one committee proposal is
a great concern, because he wants to restrict the membership of a proposed
new finance and general purpose to 8 members.
It is my opinion this proposed restructuring is to ensure proper oversight of
elected councillors is avoided.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Cllr Alf Dewis Oakham Mayor Broke The Law Grant Thornton Audit Findings 2014 - 2015 Accounts
Cllr Alf Dewis Oakham Mayor Broke The Law Grant Thornton Audit Findings 2014 - 2015 Accounts
Oakham Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis
Grant Thornton have responded to my objections to Oakham Town Councils
2014 - 2015 accounts.
Oakham Town Council is to receive a qualified audit for those not familiar
with accounting terms that is not good.
The most serious finding is Cllr Alf Dewis broke the law whilst the Vice
Chair during the period of 2014 - 2015.
He also attempted at one stage to deny he had done anything and attempted
to blame the Mayor at the time Jayne Woodcock.
Cllr Dewis has incurred unauthorised and unlawful expenditure and conducted
a campaign of bullying to attempt to cover his law breaking.
Grant Thornton say In light of the Vice Chair's actions we have concluded
that there was a significant failure of the councils internal controls and
therefore we are minded to qualify our audit report in this respect.
After receiving notification of Grant Thornton's findings I have sent the
following to the Clerk and all members.
Oakham Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis
Grant Thornton have responded to my objections to Oakham Town Councils
2014 - 2015 accounts.
Oakham Town Council is to receive a qualified audit for those not familiar
with accounting terms that is not good.
The most serious finding is Cllr Alf Dewis broke the law whilst the Vice
Chair during the period of 2014 - 2015.
He also attempted at one stage to deny he had done anything and attempted
to blame the Mayor at the time Jayne Woodcock.
Cllr Dewis has incurred unauthorised and unlawful expenditure and conducted
a campaign of bullying to attempt to cover his law breaking.
Grant Thornton say In light of the Vice Chair's actions we have concluded
that there was a significant failure of the councils internal controls and
therefore we are minded to qualify our audit report in this respect.
After receiving notification of Grant Thornton's findings I have sent the
following to the Clerk and all members.
Dear Richard,
At the next meeting I would like to make a proposal, for a vote of no confidence in our Chairman Cllr Alf Dewis.
I would like to make the proposal at the beginning of the meeting to be held on Wednesday 23rd March 2016.
The reason for me making this proposal can be found in the Grant Thornton responses to my formal objections
to the councils 2014 - 2015 accounts.
At the time Cllr Alf Dewis was Vice Chairman of Oakham Town Council and Grant Thornton find he acted
unlawfully by personally incurring the council a larger bill than authorised, when the services of Wilkin
Chapman Solicitors were used. Fortunately for the taxpayers this bill was later reduced by Wilkin Chapman.
Also fortunate for the tax payers Grant Thornton is using its discretion and not applying to the High
Court for a declaration of unlawful expenditure.
Grant Thornton say: In light of the Vice Chairs actions we have concluded that there was significant failure
of the council internal controls and therefore we are minded to qualify our audit report in this respect.
Grant Thornton can not comment on the other unlawful expenditure which resulted after Cllr Alf Dewis
appointed Personal Advice and Solutions Ltd with out council authority because this expenditure was made
in this financial period. So a new objection will be made at the end of this financial year.
When I raised both this matters and other issue surrounding the councils finances Cllr Alf Dewis in
my opinion conduct a campaign of bullying against me in an attempt to cover his unlawful conduct.
I will further be proposing at a later stage, Cllr Dewis is invoiced for the total sum of the unlawful
expenditure which the council has paid.
I also raised the incident which happened at the Meeting of the 29th June 2015
The Chairman Cllr Alf Dewis and some members excluded me from the meeting for attempting
to raise concerns about the 2014 - 2015 accounts. as our auditors Grant Thornton can not comment on this
but suggest I consider the extent my rights of as a councilor were constrained or ignored unjustly,
and I should seek redress as I see fit.
I attempted to seek redress in the form of a conduct complaint to Rutland County Council
Cllr Alf Dewis had a private meeting with the monitoring officer, who then decided he had
no case to answer in my opinion this was corruption at its best and shows a unhealthy
relationship enjoyed between some OTC Cllrs and RCC.
For the first time ever Oakham Town Council will receive a qualified audit report for various
reasons including Cllr Alf Dewis's unlawful conduct.
At a meeting a member asked what were the consequences of Oakham Town Council
receiving a qualified audit you the Clerk responded with a comment which suggested not much
would happen.
This is not true, if it were not for Grant Thornton using its discretion in this case,
the taxpayer could be paying considerably large High Court Costs.
Grant Thorton have also kept other costs to a minimum by using their discretion not to
produce a costly Report on the Public Interest, because the issues can be included
in their normal audit report which will ensure that they will be brought to the attention
of the council and the general public.
It is good to read our Auditor is concerned that the taxpayer should not pay more
than it needs to.
To conclude it is my opinion the finding against our Chairman is pretty bad
and his unlawful conduct and bullying has brought his position and the council into disrepute.
I suggest he might like to consider his position as our chairman and mayor
before Wednesdays proposal is made.
From
Cllr Martin Brookes
