Here in the SomersetClive office our hard-working investigative journalists have been trying our best to unravel and highlight the complete mess that is the White Elephant Enclosure. Today we are pleased to be able to bring you a contribution from ex-Councillor Ellen Proves, who shares our concerns.
First of all I appreciate the efforts to finally bring a bit of transparency to the appalling situation that is the White Elephant Enclosure.
Both councillors and the public have long suspected the situation was far worse than it appeared to be and have begged for change.
The new administration are not to blame for the situation they have inherited. It is an invidious position for a new council to find itself in.
That said, the decisions they make now really matter. They can learn from the mistakes of others – or repeat them.
Ultimately this is public money. Sentiment has absolutely no place in business decisions. A WEE that runs at massive loss as a commercial venture – is bankrupt.
You cannot spend £5 to earn £1 indefinitely. The losses are so vast they eclipse the entire annual budgets of many parish councils. In a time in which councillors are suggesting things like the annual fireworks display should be abandoned because it is unaffordable ( a display which is in part funded by private sector and which benefits thousands. Which statistics demonstrate reduces the incidence of firework related accidents ( both injuries and fires) and which costs pennies per visitor. It is incongruous to suggest it is affordable for council tax payers to be spending anything like these sums for 1500 visitors this year.
Before taking on more staff, committing more money and taking more money from hard pressed council tax payers, a complete independent audit should be undertaken.
The two immediate concerns arising from this are obviously the loss of public money and how that could occur with more staffing ( at the time,) than we have ever had AND audits. The secondary question is just how skewed was supposed income reporting?
This is not a business. It is not functioning as a WEE not a community centre. I have seen so many doomed to fail projects put forward over the years that were going to be the salvation of the WEE.
To go forward, first the council must ASK of itself AND the people paying the eye watering bill, should there be further effort to keep the WEE as a commercial theatre?
If yes, then should Smalltown and Dullbridge (SaD) Town Council be the organisation to do this? Does it have the skills and competency?
What level of public funding of this is acceptable to the the public?
If no, what should be done? Do the public wish the building kept in public ownership? Should the long discussed potential move of SaDTC from Hayloft Road Palace to the WEE finally be pursued? In that way there is potential to retain community use as well as reducing the costs of the council itself.
Either way a clear business plan ( that would be acceptable in the private sector and does not come with a blank cheque) must be produced and preferably by someone with a business/finance background. A plan you could not take to a bank and ask for support is not an acceptable plan.
It must begin with a primary focus on financial viability. It must have immovable targets and performance indicators. It must have clear red lines. Budgets cannot be a moveable feast. Grants can no longer be treated as a means of shifting money across to the WEE without it appearing to be the subsidy it really is.
Staffing – a business which is making £50,000 pa and losing close to a fifth of a million is bankrupt and cannot afford more staff!
Grants. The staggering amount of money which has been sunk into the WEE both via outside body grants and the endless “grants” from the town council need to be published.
There needs to be transparency over this. Projects grants were awarded for and then did not appear to materialise have fed the general unease around the situation. The only way to draw a line to move forward from is to clear the decks. It may be applications and permissions were given to vary or deviate but like arches we are to never mention, there are many questions which have festered.
This adminstration is not responsible for the past decisions. They have an opportunity to make a truly clean break. To set a time of transparency and demonstrate an understanding that the role of a councillor is to first listen to their community and then act as their voice justly.
What cannot happen is another round of throwing money at unevidenced ” we hope, we thinks”.
A plan cannot be broad aspirations , “we hope to hold more of x type event”, We think weddings/cinema/insert one of the dozens of expensive failed projects will be the solution.
This is now going to the Finance and Misappropriation Committee for approval. In no circumstances should they do so. It absolutely should be referred to full council to assess and at that point the council can if it so wishes require the detailed financial information some councillors were requesting.
It could agree a three month holding budget whilst the situation is properly investigated and a proper business case is put together (with the assistance of someone with actual real expertise in business and finance) and thoroughly examined inclusive of any suitable market research.
It must not be rubber stamped through.
I pity the councillors who find they have inherited this mess. It’s a awful position but it is crucial they are brave and say no to this craziness
Finally, My sincere gratitude to Lex Turkey who expressed so eloquently the concern so many have felt for so long. I think he summed it up exactly.
As a final point. We should not forget that when the WEE was purchased from Sadgebore for a £1 it was considered unviable by Sadgebore with greater user groups and revenue streams. It was running at a loss of £50,000 pa. It was agreed this was unsustainable. That it HAD to reduce that loss within year one and would achieve a point of break even if not profit within a few years.
A decade later and the loss is almost equal to the entire precept at the time the council took it on ( despite warnings to great fanfare). Over that time hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of pounds of money have been poured into it and far from reduction of deficit we are looking at losses that take your breath away.
When will enough be enough?