I was astonished to hear Cllr Adam Lowe say the Clerk had paid £16,000 in three payments to avoid bringing the payment to council for approval.
This has happened despite the Council and Clerk having had site of the accounts report, where they are found to be failing to protect public money by not complying with any financial regulations.
It was pointed out in during the meeting that the current regulations held in the office were out of date and had not been reviewed by the council
The actions of the clerk should be considered as gross misconduct.
Since the meeting Oakham Town Council has sent me clarification, the actual amount paid in was £14, 650. for the electricity, for the street lighting in Oakham annually charged by Rutland County Council. I wonder why they could not wait for the council to approve the payment of the invoice.
I have told Oakham Town Council that I will be reporting this to the external auditor at the end of the financial year.
Some years ago the council agreed the Clerk could spend up to £5000, with out council approval, this did not mean on anything, there was a reason for this. If a tree fell down in Station Road again they could not call a meeting to approve a work order to clear up the fallen tree.
The £5000 spend is being abused and not for the first time. It was set up so for example if another tree fell down in station road the Clerk could raise a work order up to £5000 then the invoice would be approved at council before payment was made. It was never intended to give the office a blank cheque to spend up to £5000 as they please.
At last night meeting Cllrs kept mentioning Purdah and saying they could not doing anything during this period. This period does not stop the usual business of the council taking place, although certain key decisions or activities may be looked at more closely during purdah to avoid any concern that the council is using the period in the run-up to an election to promote a political party. This matter has always seemed to confuse Oakham Town Council.
Training of councillors was mentioned and once again cost was raised as a issue.
Rutland County Councils monitoring officer has raised the issue of lack of training many times in the past, it was once again mentioned in a conduct committee report earlier this month.
Hanging baskets and planters.
Cllr Adam Lowe said the council needed to ensure it was handling its contracts and tenders correctly.
Cllr Paul Buxton who appears to be organising the hanging baskets and planters for this year. was reminded the budget had been cut. The budget had been around £17,500 and is now £14,000
Cllr Paul Buxton told the council publicly the current contractor had approach the council and they were willing to provide the same number of baskets and planter for £15,500
Cllr Adam Lowe pointed out he probably should not have shared that publicly.
Tendering process not getting of to a good start.
The council agreed an advertising spend for tenders, suggesting the clerk advertised in local papers and wrote to suppliers, no mention of government contract websites the council are required to use due to the value of the three year contract.
So once again tendering has got of to a good start..
