So, Where’s The Money Gone?

So, where’s the money?

The financial data below has all come from Folkestone & Hythe District Council. It excludes VAT. It is the Temporary staff costs data from the payment to suppliers published monthly by the council (Orange) and the Data received while the 2019/20 accounts were open for inspection (Dark Pink).

The sum from the payment to suppliers data shows the council spent £1,338,239 on temporary staff. The data from the accounts supplied by the council shows they spent £1,156,294 on temporary staff.

The discrepancy between the two is £181,945.

No explanation by the Council has been given why there is such a large discrepancy between the two sets of data. One has been sought but so far an answer there has come none.

We suspect the Overview & Scrutiny Committee members will not request to scrutinise the data, nor the Audit & Governance Committee.

The Auditor of the Council’s accounts, Grant Thornton will not be supplying an answer either. Even if they did, we probably wouldn’t believe them as they do seem prone to stretching the truth.

Let’s not forget in 2019/20 the Council broke their own record for spending on Temporary Staff costs, having spent £1,338,239.

The council officer responsible for the finance’s and the data above is, Corporate Director Charlotte Spendley. She is the s151 officer – the person legally responsible for the money – and earns an annual salary of approx £105,000 (including fees and allowances).

So we leave it to you to mull over why there is such a large discrepancy  between the two sets of data, both supplied by Folkestone & Hythe District Council.

The Shepway Vox Team

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