£5m was allocated to community projects by the Conservatives when previously in power. The new Liberal Democrat, Labour and Independents administration took over in May 2021. The independents (who formed a group) are led by Councillor Tom Sanderson, who was awarded chair of The Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee (COSMIC really?). In July 2021 that committee formally requested this successful Conservative initiated program be repeated. Throughout 2021 and into 2022, councillor Sanderson repeatedly reassured Councillors of all parties that the £5m was included in the budget. Yet the £5m never made it into the budget.
When we demanded answers, as to why we were mis-led both verbally and in our understanding of the budget papers, officers fell on their swords offering apologies that they were responsible, having made the decision behind closed doors and outside of the governance structure. Including that the budget information could be mis-interpreted and could have been better presented.
Since then I have tried to find out if members of the joint administration knew. Using members questions and finally resorting to a freedom of information request, I received a 106 page response, with more redactions than you can shake a stick at; but it does reveal Cllr Tom Sanderson knew before the budget and did not tell members of the COSMIC committee, nor members of the Council who believed the £5m was in the budget.
I know my group would not put up for long with a chairman who has withheld information from them on budget day. We can only assume he either informed members of his party, Labour and Liberal Democrats and decided not to tell the Conservatives, which seems somewhat unlikely and would be open to a standards board challenge. Alternatively, the joint administration will forgive him his behaviour in their desperate attempt to hold onto power, they will put up with virtually anything.
What I cannot tell from the redacted papers was how much Cllrs Nethsingha and Meschini were involved and when they knew. Cllr Nethsingha also insists on only using her private email address, against Council security protocol advice. This does make it nigh on impossible to find out answers such as this.
Councillor Steve Count 