As its probe is about to enter a second year, investigating financial council declines to comment on inquiry into officer who led Thurrock Council into billion pound debt
THE regulatory body which last January began an investigation into the conduct of Seán Clark, the finance director led Thurrock Council into a money meltdown that brought the authority to its knees with a debt of more than a billion pounds, has refused to answer questions about the progress of its findings – or if any punitive action has been taken.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK body that regulates auditors and accountants, announced the launch of its investigation in January – though it did not name Mr Clark.
However, it is widely acknowledged elsewhere that he is the officer in question, having been featured in a BBC TV Panorama investigation and been named in the national media.
Mr Clark made all the significant decisions regarding the failed investments, and was criticised and castigated by a number of prominent people within the council, including its former CEO Lyn Carpenter - herself someone subject to much criticism and concern.
He came under detailed scrutiny in the Best Value Inspection report produced by commissioners who stepped in when the council was put into intervention by the government in September 2022.
The BV report put the cause of the council's failure as its investment strategy, buying millions of bounds of bonds in solar energy providers.
Mr Clark, the council's s151 Officer managed all the purchases, starting in May 2016 when the Council made an investment of £24m in Swindon Solar Farm operated by companies Rockfire/Toucan, run by rogue businessman Liam Kavanagh.
Mr Clark's ability to spend under delegated was raised from £200m to £550m by the then Conservative administration, but in due course he surpassed that – a fact that was hidden from scrutiny. By early 2020 the value of Thurrock Council's investments was approaching £1 billion.
Mr Clark is particularly damned in the report, which says: "We have found no evidence to suggest that the s151 Officer provided the Cabinet Member for Finance with anything other than informal and high-level updates.
"Our examination of email exchanges between the s151 Officer and the Cabinet Member suggest that there were no reports on the Council's investments that would be sufficiently meaningful to allow the cabinet member to understand the merits of specific investments."
And it goes further, saying: "The s151 Officer made investments of over £500m without meaningful reference to elected members. The s151 Officer's actions were wholly inconsistent with the principles approved by Council."
Announcing its investigation into an officer, who can be reliably identified as Mr Clark, the FRC said it will not examine whether the investments were good or bad uses of taxpayers' cash but rather whether the required procedures when making them.
It was expected to scrutinise the officer's relationship Liam Kavanagh. The two have been reported to have held several undisclosed meetings at a five-star Mayfair hotel while the transactions were taking place.
The investigation is the first time the FRC has examined the conduct of a public official.
At the outset it was expected to last many months, but as it is about to enter its second year Thurrock Nub News asked, via freedom of Information request, what, if anything, could be disclosed or an update given about when it might be concluded.
The FRC responded by saying: "The FRC has not announced the identity of the member who is the subject of the investigation. The FRC does not normally comment on the progress of investigations. The FRC therefore has decided not to provide information on the status of this investigation."
Repeated requests for a full scale independent public enquiry into what happened at Thurrock Council have been rejected by the government and the commisioners currently running the authority. Police have also said they have not been invited to mount any investigation.
Mr Kavanagh is currently living in Dubai, where he is being pursued by a Thurrock council legal claim for reparation of millions of pounds, while Mr Clark, who lives in Staplehurst in Kentwho offered his resignation three months after being suspended, has kept a low profile.
Confirming his resignation in January 2023, the council said Mr Clark, who was suspended in September 2022, had paid £58,556.47 in salary and £11,594 in pension contributions while away from his role. It is believed he continued to be paid until he formally left the council in April that year. Lyn Carpenter received a similar amount.
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