Author: Sal
Former Ventnor Town Clerk Declares Audit Investigation Unethical
Friday, 5th February, 2010 at 3:20 pm, Isle of Wight
At Monday night’s meeting of the Ventnor Town Council, former Town Clerk for Ventnor, John Farrant, declared the recent Audit investigation into practices of the Town Council and Winter Gardens “unethical” and a “serious breach of practice.”
The five day audit took place back in November 2009, the result of which was a damning report revealing a trail of incompetence and unlawful practices.
No contact from auditors
Mr Farrant, who was one of the UK’s longest serving Town Clerks and retired last year prior to the invesitgation, explained that despite being frequently referred to in the report, he was not once contacted or interviewed by the auditors.
He went on to say that the first he’d heard about the outcome of the investigation was when it was made public two weeks ago.
Inaccuracies could have been avoided
He believed that the way in which the audit investigation took place was unethical and contained several inaccurate statements. Had he been interviewed, he said, much of this could have been avoided.
Mr Farrant went on to give the example that an arrangement regarding approval of cheques (which the report declared unlawful) had been cleared by the Audit Commission some ten years earlier.
Head Auditor offered little in return
Isle of Wight Council officer, George Hook, who was present at the meeting to answer questions, was not able to provide Mr Farrant with much of an answer.
He explained that the auditors had only a short amount of time to go through paperwork and that the report was based on evidence gathered from paperwork they had inspected.
Awaiting council response
We’ve contacted the council for a statement on the allegation that their audit team have behaved unethically, but are still awaiting a response.
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This is where we're gathering all material we garner from... - Ventnor Audit Report Reveals Some of Ventnor Town Council’s Secrets
There's more under the surface.... - Former Ventnor Town Council Under Investigation
Much will be looked into at the investigation examining back... - John Farrant, Ventnor Town Clerk To Retire After 34 Years
John joined VTC at its inception in 1974....
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It seems very strange that the former Town Clerk and former Councillor Maureen Cawley, who were both heavily criticised in the Audit Report,were not consulted. They can clearly offer some explanations, which they began to do at the VTC meeting, and might be able to locate some of the missing papers.
It is also strange that none of these issues appear to have arisen at the 18th January VTC (private) meeting when the Council unanimously accepted the Report and set up a group to implement the recommendations.
When the report was made public it had the Council’s approval and was therefore regarded as a true account.
While there are still many issues that look dubious, the report has lost some credibility.
Perhaps the strangest thing is that Clls Mew, Scoccia and Bartlett ended by attacking the Mayor for requesting the Audit and asking for his resignation. If they were present at VTC on 18th January then they must have accepted it!
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I agree that it is very strange that the auditors did not speak to John Farrant. Time should have been made.
As regards the display of aggression towards the mayor at the end, I suspect it only happened because there was a public audience to witness it (and the press).
As you say, if the council had unanimously passed the report on the 18th why then suddenly attack him for requesting it.
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I’m not surprised at all..after all they are the dinosaurs of the council who were in power at the time….its easy to blame the monkeys, but the Organ grinders are using attack as the best form of defence
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‘He explained that the auditors had only a short amount of time to go through paperwork’
Auditors are supposed to do an audit, not make excuses why they can’t do a proper job.
Were the auditors an independent firm? or sent from IWC? If from IWC they could be under time/cost pressure to finish quickly – if they are independent they have professional reputations to protect, and need to be competitive with other firms, so they do a better job.
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The audit team were from the Isle of Wight Council. They were originally booked for 10 days, but this was cut short and they only did 5 in the end.
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I have a great deal of respect for John Farrant who I have known for the last 38 years since he was Deputy Clerk to Ventnor Urban District Council. I do not believe that he would knowingly break Contract Law or Financial Regulations without direction.
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