£71,422 does not appear on either of Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s published purchase order data, or its payment to supplier data, for just one contractor.
One of my election commitments to residents who pay Council Tax is, to do my utmost to protect the public pound, if elected on May 4th. No other party or independent has, as far as I know, committed themselves to this. As such, this is why you should VOTE RYLANDS – Folkestone Central – on May 4th.
Of course I will put forward solutions to do this below, but first it’s necessary to understand why the public pound, adminstered by Folkestone & Hythe District Council, needs protecting. Also do remember the elected Cllrs were Tories, Greens, Lib Dems, Labour, UKIP and Wimble’s Independents, while all of what’s below went on. And they did nothing.
Under s26 of the Local Audit & Accountability Act 2014, any persons interested may inspect the Council’s accounts during a 30 day window. Any resident, including any sitting councillor, or journalist can:
inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records,
So while the Council’s 2021/22 accounts were open for inspection, I asked for all the purchase orders, and invoices for Capel Groundworks Ltd. All data herein relates solely to this company. Nothing herein is intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct.
I received 44 purchase orders and 34 invoices for Capel Groundworks. These purchase orders and invoices were cross referenced with the Council’s published purchase order data, and published payment to suppliers data. What I discovered generates substantial cause for concern for all Council Tax payers in the district.
Purchase order HA00208 value is for £4,690 (net). It’s corresponding invoice is for £3,440 (net) and £4,128 with VAT @20%. Then checking the Council’s purchase order data, it states:
What you need to remember is, the value of all Purchase Orders in the Council’s published purchase order data, is the net figure, ie no VAT added. And only purchase orders over £5,000 are published. The Council’s published payment to suppliers data is, inclusive of VAT.
With 20% VAT on Purchase Order HA00208, the sum would be £5,628. This amount does not appear in the Council’s published Payment to Suppliers data. Given what the Shepway Vox Team has discovered previously about contract and financial irregularities, I am not surprised by this further irregularity. However, one example of something irregular in the data for contract with Capel Groundworks alone, is not something in and of itself to cause concern.
But of course, there are further irregularities in the purchase order data and invoice data, I received directly from the Council.
In the Council’s published payment to suppliers data there is a gross payment (with VAT) paid to Capel Groundworks for £15,620.40. This payment was made on the 21 Dec 2021. Without VAT this would be £13,017. It does not appear in the Council’s published purchase order data
As I said earlier, all purchase orders are without VAT, but there is no purchase order for this sum in the Council’s published purchase order data. Also, I did not receive this purchase order or its invoice when I requested it, while the accounts were open for inspection.
Again this is irregular and given that once is a mistake, twice is pattern, I looked further to see if this was a habit, and bad one at that the Council had fallen into. And lo and behold, what do you think I found? Quelle Surprise! More irregularities
Purchase Order HA00210 is for the sum £5,940, without VAT. It was raised on the 9 June 2021. With VAT the invoice should be for £7,128 (with VAT). Alas this sum does not appear in the Council’s published payment to suppliers data. Nor did I receive the invoice for this purchase order. And three is a habit.
But the Council’s irregularities around purchase orders, invoices and payments to suppliers goes beyond a habit. It is clear it has become an embedded addiction, with no evidence of any rehabilitation.
Purchase Order HA00394 is for £980 without VAT. It was raised on the 19 Dec 2021. With VAT the value would be £1,176. This sum is not the payment to suppliers data, nor did I receive the invoice.
Purchase Order HA00531 is for £3,475, without VAT. It was raised on the 28 Feb 2022. With VAT this value would be £4,170. This sum is not the payment to suppliers data, nor did I receive the corresponding invoice.
Purchase Order HA00543 is for £9,250, without VAT. This purchase order does not appear in the Council’s published purchased order data. It was raised on the 3 Feb 2022. With VAT, this value would be £11,100. This sum does not appear in the Council’s published payments to suppliers data. Nor did I receive the corresponding invoice.
Purchase Order HA00548 is for £5,840, without VAT. This purchase order does not appear in the Council’s published purchased order data. It was raised on the 7 March 2022. With VAT, this value would be £7,008. I did not receive the corresponding invoice.
Purchase Order HA00580 is for £6,840, without VAT. This purchase order does not appear in the Council’s published purchased order data. It was raised on the 23 March 2022. With VAT the value would be for £8,280. I did not receive the corresponding invoice.
I could go on, but I suspect you may have got the point by now
All the above data, given to me and/or published by Folkestone & Hythe District Council demonstrates a substantial level of incompetence. It also means the following:
£40,366 is missing from the Council’s published purchase order data for Capel Groundworks. Given the published purchase order data says Capel Groundworks received £113,998, this means the unpublished data (£40,366) is equal to 35% of the total data published. The total for all purchase orders for Capel Groundworks should read £154,364, but of course it does not.
As for the data missing from the Council’s payments to suppliers data for Capel Groundworks, this amounts to, £31,056. This means the unpublished data is equal to 12% of the total data published. The total for all payments to suppliers data for Capel Groundworks should read £298,877, but of course it does not.
The Council irregularities as set out in their published data, with just one company, Capel Groundworks Ltd, clearly demonstrates an embedded addiction, with no evidence of any rehabilitation, and a substantial level of incompetence. Do remember during 2021/22, the Council had more than 500 contracts with suppliers.
So what can be done to protect the residents of the district public pound?
1: Vote Rylands – Folkestone Central – May 4
2: Make it mandatory for all Cllrs to have comprehensive training relating to contracts and payments
3: Introduce a monthly Key Performance indicator of 99% to go before the Audit & Governance Committee, Finance & Performance Scrutiny Sub Committee, The Overview & Scrutiny Committee, the Cabinet & full Council. This way every elected Cllr becomes aware of these matters and cannot rely on the familiar excuse “I didn’t know”.
4: Ensure all incorrect published financial data is corrected in a timely matter as per Transparency Code 2015
5: Investigate all irregualrities, regardless if an officer resigns.
6: Bolster the Council counter fraud team, as currently there is just one trained member of staff, who in the main deals with housing benefit fraud claims.
7: Vote Rylands – Folkestone Central – May 4 to protect your public pound.
Published and Promoted by Bryan Rylands Flat D, Avenay Court, Sandgate Rd, Folkestone CT20, 2LN
