Hadleigh town councillors have been slated for accepting a finance report, which a town resident suggested they had thought they had won the lottery.

Town councillors have been accused of 'mushroom management' and as a collective have cost its residents a tax rise of more than 20% over the past three years.

An Internal Auditor from Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) who examined the council accounts claimed Hadleigh's earmarked reserves were £5,451,338. A figure which led the resident to suggested councillors might have thought that they had won the lottery. 

Wendy Brame refused to explain errors (Picture: Nub News)

The actual figure should be £564,935 and the clerk said during the meeting an addendum paper would be presented, but that has not been put in the public domain as it should.

This error, and numerous others, were highlighted to councillors at the full council meeting held on Thursday 22 June.

 Roger Young, a retired merchant bank Chief Executive and former Director General of the Chartered Management Institute, claimed the Internal Audit report was one of the worst he had seen in his career. He suggested that the report be returned for a thorough re-write to SALC.

Mr Young also pointed out that, amongst other errors, the report referred to a 'manager for finance', a position that doesn't exist, and to a Finance and Establishment Committee that the HTC don't have either although he added 'he wished they did'.

Concerned Hadleigh resident Roger Young (Picture: YouTube)

The councillors, many of whom were co-opted to the Council following the recent election, were advised by Mr Young that it would be imprudent to "Receive" this agenda item 11 in view of it being in breach of the standards required by the Accounts and Audit (Amendments) Regulations 2006.

In spite of Mr. Young's intervention, the councillors voted "To Receive" the flawed report. One councillor excused their decision as "It's the way we do things here."

"This attitude, keeping residents in the dark, has cost residents a rise of over 20% in their council rate in the last three years," said Mr. Young. "It's called Mushroom Management in the private sector."

Hadleigh town council's clerk Wendy Brame and Gordon McLeod, the mayor who chaired the meeting, were approached for comment last week but failed to respond.

They were asked to clarify and comment on the following items:

The internal auditor's report has quoted the HTC's external reserve of £5,451,338. Is this figure correct?

If so, has HTC won the lottery as suggested by a resident?

The report also referred to a manager for finance, a position and to a Finance and Establishment Committee. According to your own set up it is clear that the HTC does not have either, or have these positions been appointed without councillors being told?

Given these and a number of other errors highlighted at your full council meeting last Thursday, what justification is there to accept this report?

Also, the clerk asserted an addendum paper would-be presented, could we have a copy of that addendum please as it should be in the public domain.

*The term 'mushroom management' stems from the fact that mushroom are fed manure and kept in the dark