£80,000 TNS grant: 'A cock-up, not a conspiracy' says Shropshire Council leader
The leader of Shropshire Council has spoken out on the growing row about an £80,000 grant to a football club, saying it was a "cock-up, not a conspiracy."
Councillor Peter Nutting also said the episode, which left council taxpayers £70,000 out of pocket, could never happen again after procedures had been tightened.
The furore surrounds an £80,000 grant to The New Saints of Oswestry Town FC, commonly known as TNS, towards the cost of building a new stand at its Park Hall stadium.
The council says the grant was given on condition that the club repaid the money in the form of grants to Oswestry Town Council over a five-year period. But only one payment, for £10,000 was made.
Councillor Nutting, who was not leader of the council at the time of the grant, said council officers had assured him they had the evidence to recover the money.
He admitted that the way the council had handled the matter was unsatisfactory. He said thorough investigations had been carried out by the authority and by police, but they found no evidence of fraud by any councillor, former councillor, or council officer.
"It appears the council lacked the systems within its organisation to follow up non-repayments," said Councillor Nutting.
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"Systems are now being implemented to ensure a similar situation will not happen again."
He said the council had taken 'appropriate legal action' to recover the money from TNS.
"Officers assure me that they have the evidence they require to recover the money, and I'm asking them to undertake due diligence to ensure they don't end up paying large legal fees in this matter.
"This is very much a cock-up rather than a conspiracy."
'Inadvertently wiped'
Last week the Shropshire Star revealed the full details of the council's own internal investigation, which revealed that the council missed at least eight opportunities to repay the money.
It revealed that crucial documents relating to the payments were 'inadvertently wiped' by IT staff, and it was not known whether the failure to pursue payment was 'by design or accident'.
It also revealed that the council did not seek evidence that the club had met its conditions regarding match-funding, or that the benefits to the town that the scheme was meant to deliver.
It also revealed that as far back as August 2014, a council official had prepared an invoice for outstanding payments of £32,000, but was asked not to send it.
Councillor Nutting's statement follows a call by the council's Labour group for a public inquiry into the matter.
