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It has been a busy and fast moving day. More on that and some of the history in due course, but Cllr Caiach left a comment earlier this evening which merits a posting of its own.

I believe these two issues are only the tip of an iceberg as far as what I would regard as a pattern of dubious fiscal behaviour in this council. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a serious issue about whether we councillors are in any position to set a budget when we now have so little confidence in the quality of our financial advice .

As in any similar professional position the chief executive should stand down and take no further part in proceedings until a decision is made about his future.

I also would wish an extensive external audit of our finances. I have no confidence in the way we are handling our money, not only because of the WAO report but also due to other matters brought to my attention.

I have similarly no confidence in the ability of my executive colleagues to guide my council through the annual budget. They have allowed others to pull wool over their eyes and goodness knows what other things may have got past them.

We need an extraordinary general meeting as soon as possible. If we are not absolutely sure of the financial propriety or true motivation of the serious funding decisions about to be made, we should ask WG to make a full financial investigation and delay the budget.

Many individual councillors have been concerned by a variety of funding and financial topics which
have not seemed appropriate uses of public money ,but have been supported by the executive

Now,we have been informed in detail of clear misuse of public funds which indicates repeated systemic failure in financial management.

We should not ignore this expert opinion. Delay with dealing with our mistakes and weaknesses will make things worse, not better. If we need outside help to sort it out, why not? Its been going on too long already.