LIB DEM COUNCILLORS BLOCK CALLS FOR FURTHER SCRUTINY AFTER £30M ACCOUNTING
ERRORS
10.02.25
Windsor and Maidenhead Conservatives have expressed deep concern after Liberal
Democrat Councillors voted against a proposal for further reassurances following serious
accounting errors within the Council. Public concern has been rising following impending
Council Tax hikes and the identification of £30million in accounting errors.
At the Audit and Governance Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, chaired by Liberal
Democrat Councillor Julian Tisi, the independent auditors Deloitte specifically
recommended that the committee request a report from RBWM senior management to
demonstrate that issues previously raised had been addressed and that correct processes
are now in place to ensure such errors do not happen again. But while Independent
Councillor Neil Knowles and Conservative Councillor Julian Sharpe voted in favour of this,
the three LibDems voted against.
Cllr Julian Sharpe (Conservative for Ascot and Sunninghill) said:
“It is shocking that, despite such serious financial errors in the Council finance
department, the Liberal Democrat councillors have actively voted against a proposal
recommended by independent auditors. They clearly just want to play politics rather than
find out the truth. This report would have been in the public interest and essential for
reassuring residents that the mistakes have ceased and made sure that processes have
been addressed, and that errors will not happen again.”
Cllr Sally Coneron (Conservative for Ascot and Sunninghill) added: “It is pure political
posturing that the Lib Dems have called these ‘Tory Errors’. They should know that the
preparation of accounts and financial reconciliations are the legal responsibility of council
officers, not elected councillors. Errors in financial reporting are operational issues and
must be addressed through proper scrutiny – not political point-scoring.
It’s the Conservative former leader and current Conservative team that have stepped in
and are calling for investigation while the Lib Dems have unbelievably voted against an
auditor recommendation that would be in resident’s best interests. According to the Lib
Dems, the officers don’t ‘have time’ to investigate this”.
Conservative Group Leader Cllr Maureen Hunt (Hurley and Walthams) said: “In the interest
of transparency, it is important for future council finances and for our residents to know
where, when and why these miscalculations occurred and if and when this has been
corrected. We call for an independent investigation to commence immediately, for this
vote to return to committee, and for the Liberal Democrats to support this essential
scrutiny.”
ENDS.
For Media Enquires please contact Councillor Sally Coneron 07766073183
