Shropshire Council's ip&e seeking new directors

Clive Wright, chief executive of the authority, confirmed that the council is looking to appoint two new directors so it can hold official board meetings.

It is understood that currently ip&e only has two board members and does not have a quorum – the minimum number of members for it to conduct official business.

Mr Wright also said a cross-party group of councillors is currently looking at the company's performance in relation to both council contracts and those secured with other organisations as part of an ongoing review.

The company was set up about three-and-a-half years ago as a stand alone private company to sell services to generate extra revenue.

Former council leader Keith Barrow resigned as a director of ip&e late last year – just weeks before he quit political life in the county altogether – after he was found to have breached Shropshire Council's code of conduct.

Mr Wright said: "We are currently carrying out an internal review of ip&e to look at routine things such as the performance of the company as part of its term strategic contract with the council, as well as its performance in relation to the external contracts it has won.

"Since the review started, just before Christmas, a cross-party group has been set up and the leader has assigned his deputy portfolio holder in the newly constituted cabinet to oversee the process."

Mr Wright said they expect to finish the review before April. He said: "It's still early days and, as such, it's too early to confirm any outcomes. However, we are keen to move swiftly and expect the review to be complete by the beginning of the next financial year.

"We will imminently add two new directors to the board following the resignation of directors late in December 2015."

Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of the Labour group and a long-standing critic of the company, said he hoped the review would consider transferring employees back to the council.

He said: "I have been opposed to the creation of ip&e ever since it was proposed and everything that has happened has proved our decision to be accurate.

"The accounts need to be looked at carefully as I believe it has cost the authority significant amounts of money without any return for that.

"I feel for the staff that have been transferred into it and hope the inquiry will find a way to transfer the staff and functions back to a better managed authority."

Mr Mosley said the current lack of board members illustrated the problems faced. He said: "Not only is the governance a farce, it does not actually exist because the board cannot even have a meeting."