UPDATE (2/6/22): Lib Dem Cuckoo Councillors Spend Millions on Yeovil FC - Against the Wishes of Supporters and Residents

 

Liberal Democrat Councillors
Spending YOUR Money

UPDATE (2/6/22): Ian Perkins of the Gloverscast Yeovil FC podcast (see link below), has responded to our article. Mr Perkins told us:

"I believe SSDC have good intentions with this deal and that they genuinely believe the initial lump sum will benefit the club. However scepticism among supporters about the owner's intentions and commitment to the club have made this deal extremely negative in the eyes of many. The settling of a £1.35m private debt accrued when purchasing the club leaves a sour taste and the sporadic communication, apparently when a good bit of PR is needed has left supporters deeply cynical about the owner."

These are the views of Mr Perkins, and not Somerset Independents. Mr Perkins was formerly of the Glovers Trust, which has been going through a lot of changes in personnel recently.

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On 31st May 2022, we said in an article that we would publish more details of the spending spree by Liberal Democrat councillors on South Somerset District Council (SSDC).

SSDC is a Somerset Council that has been dogged by controversy. More on that is elsewhere on this website in our investigations and reports, in the Rotten Boroughs section of Private Eye magazine and in The Leveller newspaper.

It is a Council that has less than a year to live. This was remarked upon with sadness by the Chair of the Council Councillor Maxwell, at the last Full Council meeting.

But its councillors cannot be voted out, because the Council will not have another election. The public cannot deliver its verdict at the ballot box.

They are cuckoo councillors, sitting in the nest of the Council and gambling with millions of pounds of public money like it is going out of fashion. And bad decisions, bad debts, bad officers and bad councillors will infect the New Council when it takes over next year. 

The recent example of the merger of West Somerset and Taunton councils is a very recent example of what goes wrong in forced mergers of councils. But the Tory Government and Tory and Lib Dem councillors do not seem to learn from their mistakes.

One example of SSDC's profligate spending is on Yeovil Football Club - the Glovers.

Supporters of Yeovil FC at the Glovers Trust, the official supporters trust of Yeovil, are opposed to SSDC being involved. They had even asked their members to write to SSDC councillors to urge them to stop any purchase.

Other fans including those at the Gloverscast, expressed concern. They asked lots of questions in their 27th May podcast and also published information given to them by the Cabinet member responsible, Cllr John Clark. Clark had given Gloverscast this information before SSDC had responded to our questions. taking a fortnight to answer our questions on Yeovil Town FC, we must point out).

Yet officers at this Council run by Liberal Democrat councillors confirmed on 31st May 2022 to the Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, that they had spent £2.8 million of public money on Yeovil FC and that the deal had just completed.

The deal had just been completed, apparently the day before we asked questions, according to SSDC's response to Andrew.

And they did it behind closed doors with a confidential report.

In a written set of questions, Andrew asked SSDC on 18th May 2022:

Leader of Somerset Independents
Andrew Pope

"As a former member of the Glovers Trust, I have received information from them advising that SSDC is continuing its plans to purchase Yeovil FC and/or its assets. Please advise the full facts and point me to agenda items of any SSDC meetings where this has been discussed. Will it be mentioned at this Full Council tomorrow? Has the Audit Committee considered this expenditure? If not, why? Has there been an Internal Audit study of this?"

SSDC refused Andrew to be allowed to speak at the Full Council, because he missed their deadline by a few hours. 

SSDC said the following. SSDC did not answer until 31st May 2022. We will leave it to readers to decide whether they answered Andrew's questions or not.

"Due to the financial pressures on the club caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a confidential report on the proposed purchase and leaseback of land at Huish Park was discussed at the Scrutiny Committee on 1st December 2020 and the District Executive approved the purchase & leaseback transaction on 3rd December 2020.  The capital for this purchase was approved by Full Council in February 2022 as part of the budget setting report.  Complex legal work was progressed to conclude the transaction in accordance with the decisions taken.  The transaction exchanged and completed legally on 17 May 2022."

Andrew says:

Andrew Pope

"It must have been a remarkable coincidence that the transaction 'completed and exchanged' the day before I asked my questions, after such a long delay.

And it must have also been a remarkable coincidence that after a very long silence, just two days after I sent my questions, that SSDC published a long press release on the exact same topic.

It was almost as if they wanted to keep it quiet and behind closed doors. My questions flushed out these secretive councillors and secretive council. I forced this controversial council to break their silence.

It is reasonable to conclude that these cuckoo councillors want to continue on their spending spree with millions of pounds of public money that belongs to Somerset residents. Lib Dem councillors want to continue their cloak and dagger way of working, preferring fixed and pre-determined "consultations" to actually listening properly to fans of Yeovil or residents of Somerset.

Somerset residents deserve to have light shone on SSDC's secretive dealings.

Because it is Somerset residents who are suffering with essential services run down or cut and their towns and villages neglected by the council. Money is instead being spent on the wrong things. Spending is profligate and inappropriate.

The governance of this council is out of control. It is unaccountable to the public.

There were no answers about the Audit Committee or Internal Audit. Are these councillors asleep at the wheel? They are supposed to be there to account for public money, on behalf of Somerset residents. But of course, most of them are also Lib Dems supposedly challenging other Lib Dems spending the millions.

People of Somerset want essential services for all that are run properly and funded properly.

Spending millions on a football club, which is a private business, and against the wishes of Yeovil supporters, is just plain wrong.

  And it is just plain cuckoo to think otherwise."