Harborough District Council agrees to end inquiry into whereabouts of £105k - with no conclusion as to where the money went

The council made the decision following an investigation into Harborough District Leisure Trust Limited, which, documents note, was contracted to provide leisure services to HDC between May 1, 2008, and March 31, 2019.

At the time the contract ended, the trust had approximately £105,000 of funds left, councillors were told. The trust advised HDC that the money had been given to 22 community groups. HDC wrote to the former trustees to request further information on the recipients. However, no response was received.

HDC pursued the matter. However, it has now decided to close its inquiry.

The decision was made at the council’s Services and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Thursday, May 7. Ahead of a vote on the matter, chairman of the meeting Councillor Buddy Anderson told panel members: “I just wanted to say as chairman on this, there will be some of you may feel that perhaps we’ve taken this too far, it shouldn’t have gone as far as it has today. There will be others who feel we should take this much further than we have.”

A background report prepared for the meeting stated: “Evidence indicates that the trust invited applications for grants from relevant, local groups and this was suitably publicised – both online and with paper forms at parish council sites – in 2021. This appears to support the entry in the trust accounts for 2021/22 that £79,300 was paid out in the form of donations that year, albeit the chief internal auditor has no means by which to confirm the accuracy of this reported spend, the recipients of the grants, nor the grant application process.”

The report said that an internal audit review had noted that in 2023 that the council “had sought to obtain details of the spend from both the trust and its accountants but that no further details had been provided”. It added: “The auditor concluded, based on the information provided, that it appeared there was no obligation for the trust to provide the information on the spend. This is supported by the legal advice.”

At the meeting, the officer presenting the report said “unfortunately” the council would not be able to celebrate the benefits and outcomes of the funds distributed by the trust as a result of not knowing to whom they had been given. They said it also meant that the council was not able to consider the distribution of the funds any further. They advised the panel members to close the matter.

Councillor Anderson told the meeting: “As chair, it’s not my job to please everybody, but I do really feel with this report that we have struck the right balance. I’ve read it in great detail and I will myself be voting to agree to close the matter.”

The majority of the panel at the council meeting voted in favour of ending the investigation.