Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

These probably won't be of much interest to the public.....

They relate to payments made some while ago and which got a mention in the Rotten Boroughs page of Private Eye!

Questions for Cllr. J. Scott.

a) 'What progress is being made with respect to recovering the secret ‘Non-Pensionable Honorarium' payments to certain members of staff at Kennet District Council between 1 January and 1 April 2009? If you have decided to take no further action, please indicate whether the decision was based upon legal advice and, if so, whether the advice was provided internally or externally.'

b) 'The KPMG ‘Executive Summary’ into the Kennet District Council ‘Non Pensionable Honorarium’ payments states ‘At Kennet, honorarium payments were included in redundancy calculations for two members of staff. Whether or not it was correct for Kennet to have done so given its powers and the existing law is a matter on which Wiltshire will need to obtain legal advice. We understand from a memorandum from a solicitor at the Audit Commission that, in his view, honorarium payments should not have been included in redundancy calculations.’ Was such legal advice sought? If so, from whom? If not, why not? Assuming that legal advice was sought, what was the advice given to Wiltshire Council?'

c) 'In a previous question relating to the Kennet non-pensionable honoraria payments for this meeting, I quoted the KPMG executive summary statement which stated ‘We understand from a memorandum from a solicitor at the Audit Commission that, in his view, honorarium payments should not have been included in redundancy calculations.’ However, in the full report (page 50 paragraph 4.2.1) this sentence has been redacted. Why was this redaction made to the full report?'