Concern over cost-cutting parish council’s mystery outlays

A parish council has been criticised amid concerns over £27,000 of mystery payments it made while announcing cuts and increasing its share of the council tax.

Several members of the public have contacted The Voice over the payments made by Holbeach Parish Council, which last month announced saving measures as well as increasing the precept by 4.55 per cent and taking £30,000 out of the authority’s reserves, to put it on a safer financial footing.

The parish council’s cheque register, which is open for the public to view, shows that payments of £13,491.66 and £13,508.34 were made in December, but the name of the creditor is blanked out.

The higher fee is officially listed as ‘legal fees’ and the lower ‘legal expenses’.

The Voice asked both the parish council office and the authority’s chair Coun Graham Rudkin what the payments related to, but both declined to comment.

Reference to a Non-Disclosure Agreement was mentioned by Coun Peter Sparkes while discussing finances at the council’s latest meeting. The authority declined to comment when asked by The Voice what that related to.

Those who have contacted us claimed that the payments could have been made to the former clerk of the council, David Boyce, who left that role in December.

We again asked both the authority and Coun Rudkin if that was correct but both declined to comment.

Mr Boyce said he could not comment for ‘legal reasons’.

One Holbeach resident who contacted The Voice but did not wish to be named, said: “I don’t know how you can hold it back from the public. Surely that’s public money that’s being spent.

“It’s all supposed to be transparent and there’s no transparency whatsoever.”

As previously reported, at the parish council’s previous meeting it voted through savings including no longer providing staff uniforms, a reduction on the amount of stationary being purchased from the staff office and reducing costs for training.

Councillors also voted for the 4.55 per cent increase in council tax rather than a lower rate to generate enough funds to ensure Carter’s Park and Holbeach Cemetery would be locked up at night following an unsuccessful trail of leaving them open last year.

Coun Rudkin said he was disappointed about some funding to Holbeach In Bloom being cut.

He said: “We were hoping to get £2,000 but that’s not going to happen now.

“We’re still ahead in terms of money in the reserves but we’re going to find money from other sources and we’ve also benefitted from support from some excellent local businesses.

“People forget this to is tidy and improve the town.”