The police have been asked to investigate the “probity” of two regeneration schemes awarded millions of pounds in grants by Pembrokeshire County Council.
Concerns, first raised by a councillor last year, are centred on two Town Heritage Initiative schemes in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock — costing almost £18m — and which have received the majority of their funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of its support for the regeneration of conservation area buildings with Grade II listing or higher.
There are also worries about a £1.47m grant given to Commercial Property Grant Scheme regeneration projects, also at Pembroke and Pembroke Docks, and funded mainly by the European Regional Development Fund.
At a county council extraordinary audit committee meeting last month Milford Haven councillor Mike Stoddart produced a five-page report he had prepared outlining his “grave concerns about the probity” of the schemes, which questioned grant payments and whether some of the work was actually carried out. The meeting, which was partly held in camera, adjourned to visit the sites highlighted in the councillor’s report. These included the Old Coronation School, in Pembroke Dock, and 16-19 Commercial Row, and numbers 25, 27 and 29 Dimond Street.
On his internal council blog Stoddard had perviously posted claims that work to chimneys at the school “had been costed at almost £14,000 in the final account for the grant-aided project”. Yet, when he inspected the project, “I came away with the impression that these chimneys and turrets were still in their original condition … and was told that the final account certificate is accurate”.
The January meeting was informed by the authority’s director of development, Dr Steven Jones, that his understanding of the grants schemes was “limited” to his role as lead director and it was difficult for him to “give a personal guarantee that every single penny of money spent has been accounted for”.
He added: “I’m clear that if there is an error we will look at that immediately, to claim back any money unaccounted for and move on with any other opportunities we have to bring grant money into the area.”
When doubts over the use of the grants first surfaced in the summer of 2013 they were investigated by council officers who stated that an internal audit had found that “adequate and effective compliance arrangements” were in place and “complied with”. The officers also claimed the Heritage Lottery Fund was “content” with the use of its money.
The county council was told that additional full audits had been carried out by the Welsh European Funding Office, the Wales Audit Office, the Welsh Government European Funds Audit Team and the European Commission and no anomalies found.
The January meeting was adjourned to allow committee members to “absorb what it had discovered”. In a brief statement its chairman, John Evans, said: “Openness and transparency is a priority for us.”
But now, less than a month later, Pembrokeshire County Council has passed all its paperwork — including a copy of Mike Stoddart’s report — to the police. “We can confirm that we have been in contact with the police,” said a council spokesman. “And in the event that we are satisfied that a fraud has been committed against the council, we will formally refer the matter.”
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