Clifford Chambers clerk and chair resist calls to resign as they challenge auditor’s damning report

The fallout from scrutiny of how Clifford Chambers and Milcote Parish Council is run continued this week ahead of another extraordinary meeting called for this evening (Friday) at 6.30pm in the village hall.

Despite the publication of a damning internal audit report for 2023-24 by expert auditor Tim Light, both the council’s clerk and chair defended their performance.

The substantive report lists a catalogue of failures where the council has not followed procedures in a variety of cases – highlighting major changes that are needed. This included publishing minutes, budgetary control, improving payment processes and making them transparent and accountable.

The council discussed the reports into its governance and auditing at an extraordinary meeting in June, with brief minutes showing acceptance of them and recommendations.

However, this week chair Jonathan Tribe and clerk Debbie Woodliffe told the Herald they would in fact be challenging Mr Light’s report, even though this has not been agreed by parish councillors.

An email response from Ms Woodliffe read: “The internal audit is being challenged. I have taken advice, noted the comments/decisions made and am preparing an evidence-based report.”

Meanwhile clarifying the correct protocol, Mr Light told the Herald: “It is for the parish council to determine collectively on how to respond to the details set in the report.

“A meeting was held with all parish councillors and the parish clerk virtually on the 26th June to brief them on the details in the report. An invitation to attend the meeting was also sent to the CEO of the Warwickshire & West Midlands Association Of Local Councils.

“The parish council should follow the proper practices laid out in the Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance ‘Practitioners Guide’ file (nalc.gov.uk) and the Internal Auditor should use the check list provided in Section 4 of the Practitioners Guide to determine if the control framework provides sufficient internal controls and remains fit for purpose.”

He continued: “The internal audit report sent to the parish council was an independent assessment and view of the parish council’s control framework and made recommendations to enhance the internal controls of the parish council. It is for the parish council to determine whether to accept these recommendation collectively.”

Both the chair and clerk declined to answer specific questions put them by the Herald, including clarification on how £10K allocated for a campaign to fight the planning application for All Things Wild was being spent.

Although Ms Woodliffe added: “My comments within the report will be open for public scrutiny once sent.”

In the last week the Herald has received six separate letters from concerned residents calling for both the clerk and chair to resign.

Sarah Hosking, who runs charity the Hosking Houses Trust in the village, said: “I suggest that the failures of procedural conduct are so extreme that they are beyond the remit of retraining and only the resignation of the clerk and chair can remedy this situation.”

Resisting the call to resign, the clerk said: “A hostile environment can make parish council business more protracted and thwart genuine attempts to move forward in a positive way.”