Thursday, March 26, 2009

Neglikent!

That ruddy-faced man who runs Kent County Council's physog is already pucer than a boiled beetroot, but it'll surely be glowing purpler than a porn star's knob-end when he reads today's report by the Audit Commission!

According to the government's spending watchdog, KCC is one of seven councils they regard as 'negligent' due to their touching trust in the Icelandic banking system, long after everyone said the entire kit and kaboodle was about to go nipples skyward. We already know the Tory duffers lost 50m of your taxpayers' spondulics when they sent their mum to Iceland to with a shopping trolley full of fivers last year, but what has really got the commission's goat is the £8.3m KCC deposited on 1 and 2 October, after the banks' credit ratings had been downgraded to 'adequate' (several notches below 'fill your boots').

Following a quick calculation on the back of his Rothmans packet, my accountant Cyril reckons £8.3m could have got you half a Turnip Centre, or an entire 'offshore' Turnip Centre, up to the point where the test pylon blows over and everyone goes 'We told you so'. Time for old Boil-in-the-Bag to resign, methinks!

KCC's boneless moneybox

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul Carter was on the BBC local radio just after 8 today. The Audit Commission got it wrong! They did not ask KCC for their side of the story. Luckily for KCC the very same Audit Commission gave KCC a four star rating from the audit they did in June 2008. I have to agree with Cllr Carter, the audit commission must have got this wrong too. Cllr Carter also tries to whitewash the issue by claiming that the KCC pension fund got out of equities before the latest fall in the stock market. And yet I seen reports that there have been problems with one of their American fund advisors. Its no wonder most people dont trust any polititians.

Can somebody tell me why Paul Carter now speak on the Radio and TV when ever there is critisism of KCC? Whether its the Sevenoak's 11 years olds sent to Folkestone schools, the Ashford £400,000 street lights, and the lost £50,000,000, Whats happended to the rest of the KCC cabinet? Are they being gagged?

Richard Eastcliff said...

Clearly he's honing his skills as a media pundit in preparation for being handed his P45 by the electorate in June!

Anonymous said...

If only that were the case, ECR.

£111m. lost/wasted by KCC on various schemes but I think the supine electorate will still vote them back in.

Anonymous said...

From the BBC website:

Councillor Nick Chard, the council's cabinet member for finance (said)
"It really is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

"I find this a convenient smokescreen for the Audit Commission which has twice the level of exposure in Icelandic Banks that Kent County Council has".

A case of "our cock-up is smaller than theirs". What eloquent justification!

Anonymous said...

How was a junior officer in KCC allowed to transfer 3 million etc days before the collapse?? It demonstrates the serious lack of internal control, as this payment should have been authourised by a more senior employee, as in the private sector. Someone senior should now take full responsibility for this and resign. If not, then public will loose repsect and confidence in our local public servants who will then appear not to be answerable. anymore.