Is Mendip District Council Corrupt? External Auditor Agrees Governance Failings For Second Year Running

 

A Failing Council

 

The Lib Dem-run Mendip District Council (MDC) has been found to have serious failings in how it is run, for a second year in a row.

Following our success in exposing MDC's failings of governance last year, as reported on this website and also by SomersetLive, another investigation by Somerset Independents has challenged how the Council is being run for a second year in a row. 

We have shown the results of our investigation to MDC's External Auditor, Ernst and Young (EY).

EY have agreed, for a second year in a row, that there are governance failings.

They have asked Somerset Independents officer Denise Wyatt for more information to support our findings.

Denise Wyatt

Denise is providing this information to EY. She says:

"Ernst and Young warned MDC's councillors and their Finance Officer last year, after Somerset Independents objected to the Council's accounts.

But councillors have not learned their lessons and have repeated the same mistakes in how the Council is run.

Worse than this, officers of the Council have not made sure that the Council is run properly. 

Mendip councillors seem to think this is a green light to disobey the Nolan Principles in Public Life.

Private Eye have reported on the failings that we have exposed, as has local newspaper The Leveller. 

Somerset Independents have provided our investigations to local and national media.

The Lib Dem councillors at Mendip seem to have made worse "oversights", but due to the huge numbers of these "mistakes", it seems that it can only be deliberate.

The culture of Mendip District Council is totally ingrained and is totally sick.

The governance failings at MDC allow wrongdoing to thrive. And it has thrived at MDC.

Council officers have even tried to protect Mendip councillors who have not paid their council tax, and have allowed councillors to be absent for months while still claiming taxpayers money in the form of their councillor allowance.

Before the Lib Dems came in, the Tories were no better at running this Council.

And it is another case of Lib Dem or Tory, same old story."