Is she, or isn’t she?
“The Section 151 Officer is responsible to the Council for ensuring that appropriate advice is given on all financial matters, for keeping proper financial records and [...]
s151 officer
Princes Parade: Financial mismanagement of Faithful & Gould contract
Updated 6 March @ 07:40am According to the Council’s procurement guide under Value for Money it states: Value for money is a balance of quality, price and delivery and [...]
Princes Parade Update: Possible solutions to discover the lost £5m.
Updated 6 March @ 07:55am How does Folkestone & Hythe District Council lose £5m on Princes Parade? Cllr Jim Martin doesn’t know, nor does Cllr Lesley Whybrow. Cllr [...]
Interim Chief Finance Officer likely to cost minimum of £104,000
According to Cllr Jackie Meade‘s quick back of the fag packet calculation, at the Personnel Committee on the 2 Feb, an interim s151 officer was £100,000. A s151 [...]
Council’s accounts: Another hat trick of irregularities
How many times does it take Folkestone & Hythe District Council to produce a draft set of accounts for publication, for the financial year 2021/22? No it’s not a [...]
Council’s accounts “are nothing short of a dog’s breakfast”
“They are nothing short of a dog’s breakfast” says Chris a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), “and [...]
Council’s Chief Finance Officer is leaving the building
Charlotte Spendley the Chief Finance Officer (s151 Officer) at Folkestone & Hythe District Council is leaving the building sometime in the near future. Did she jump, or [...]
Bruising reports remind Council’s Statutory Officers of contract & financial irregularities as a major issue as council face £18.5m deficit
They are without doubt, three remarkable, wise women. Each is able, each is a professional, and each is full of “intent, a clear intent” to instill compliance of [...]
Exodus from Council Finance Department
Exodus (noun) = a lot of people leave that place at the same time. She is the second most senior finance officer at Folkestone & Hythe District Council, yet her job [...]
Yet More Contract Irregularities at Folkestone & Hythe District Council
Once again, there are issues with Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Contracts Register (17/10/22) (Quelle surprise). The Council’s Constitution at Part 10 [...]
More Financial Irregularities at the Council
It took two hours and four minutes before Cllr Lesley Whybrow (Green) Cabinet Member for the Environment pointed out that the s151 Officer, – Charlotte Spendley [...]
Part 2: Your Rights to Inspect the Council’s Accounts
Following on from Part 1 yesterday, if after inspecting the accounts and asking questions you are concerned about something in the accounts, you may wish to object to the [...]
Council reluctant to place reports about financial and contract irregularities into the public domain.
Updated 26/10/22 @19:30 Sometimes, just sometimes, we do feel for Cllrs who try their best, but find themselves unsupported by other Cllrs who sit on the same committee. [...]
Kent County Council loaned £20m to authority now under investigation due to ‘exceptional’ debt
During the financial year 1 Apr 2021 & 31 Mar 2022, Kent County Council (KCC) lent £20m to Thurrock Council which is now under investigation due to its “exceptional [...]
Council whistleblower vindicated over contract irregularities
In a guest post back in June 2022, a Council Officer whistleblower claimed there was a lack of governance and internal controls within Folkestone & Hythe District [...]
Are Folkestone & Hythe District Council cooking the books?
It’s a first, and not one Folkestone & Hythe District Council should be proud of at all. For the first time in the history of our Council, they have failed to [...]
Four council Officers suspended due to financial and contractual irregularities.
Exclusive: The Shepway Vox Team can announce that four council officers at Folkestone & Hythe District Council have been suspended due to contract and financial [...]
Two QCs say report must be issued over unlawful expenditure of Premier Roofing & Clifford Carpentry and Interior contracts
Following on from our last post, Is this evidence of Fraud, Financial Irregularities, Non Compliance @ Folkestone & Hythe District Council? we sought the legal opinions [...]
Part 1: Are Kent County Council Finances in Safe Hands?
Zena Cooke (pictured) is probably a woman you have never heard of. There is no need for you to have ever heard of her. She is Kent County Council’s (KCC) Director of [...]
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 [...]
Part 2: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Financial Irregularities.
Folkestone & Hythe District Council are looking for a new statutory s151 Officer. According to the Candidate Breifing Pack on Penna Recruitment & the [...]
There is the right way and there is the FHDC way.
We used to say there is “the right way and there is the Shepway. Of course, that has now morphed into there is right way and there is the Folkestone & Hythe [...]