A war of words has broken out between Braddan Parish Commissioners and their former Clerk, Charles Lewin, following the announcement by Local Government Minister, John Shimmin, in Tynwald last Tuesday (15^th January) of a £250,000 deficit.

Mr Shimmin said, “One major problem found by the Commissioners, since Mr Lewin’s departure is that the Clerk’s reports and the management accounts presented by him did not reflect the true financial position of the Commissioners. They actually have a deficit at the end of the 2007 financial year of over £250,000, not the surplus/breakeven position that had been previously reported to them.”

Mr Lewin, in an interview with Manx Radio, denied any responsibility for the deficit. He said that it was the finance officer and the Commissioners’ ‘accountants’ that prepared the management accounts and that he only viewed them before passing them onto the Commissioners. In his opinion the figures would be absolutely correct and inferred that the deficit had probably arisen from decisions to transfer capital costs to general revenue.

He said that Roger Rawcliffe, the Chairman of the Public Inquiry (into the affairs of the Commissioners in 2005), “quite correctly highlighted he had concerns about some of the decisions taken by the Commissioners and their full understanding of the implications of those decisions.”

The Manx Herald has obtained a copy of the Rawcliffe Report and could not find a passage in it that totally corresponded with Mr Lewin’s interpretation.

The Report highlights the DLGE’s concerns regarding proposed expenditure of the Commissioners; and Mr Rawcliffe thought that this interest was legitimate. What Mr Rawcliffe did conclude was that, “the Commissioners should think carefully and clearly before entering into expensive new commitments.”

The Commissioners responded with a hard hitting press release, the full text of which is reproduced below.

The response of the Braddan Parish Commissioners to the Statement, by the Minister for Local Government & the Environment, to Tynwald, 14^th January 2008, on issues concerning the Braddan Commissioners; and the subsequent Manx Radio interview with the former Clerk, Mr C.S. Lewin. This statement was unanimously approved at a meeting of the Authority 17^th January 2008.

The Commissioners, having considered the Minister’s Statement, fully concur with the content and confirm that progress is being made to resolve all the outstanding issues from the Public Inquiry, held in 2005, and other issues arising from the dismissal of their former Clerk, Mr CS Lewin in March 2007.

The Commissioners are conscious that some of these issues are taking a considerable amount of time to resolve, but this is a reflection on the complexity of some of the issues involved, and the difficult circumstances in which they have been working, rather than any reluctance, on their part, to address these issues.

The Commissioners can confirm they have been working closely with the Department since the dismissal of the former Clerk, and hope that this ongoing co-operation will aid a satisfactory, and speedier, outcome of all the outstanding issues.

The Commissioners wish to reassure ratepayers that a comprehensive review of the financial reporting procedures has been undertaken since the revealing of the substantial deficit in 2007. Moreover, the decisions made by the Commissioners, since the end of March 2007, have resulted in a significant improvement in the Authority’s finances and a sizeable reduction in its overheads.

The Chairman of the Authority, Mrs Hodge, will be writing to ratepayers shortly, when the 2008 rate demands are issued, explaining many of the problems the Commissioners have had to deal with in the last year and how the Commissioners have been dealing with them.

The Commissioners are astounded by the reaction of the former Clerk to the Statement made by the Minister and his apparent attempt to deflect total responsibility for the Authority’s financial position on to the Commissioners and the Authority’s Finance Officer, and one other individual, who provides some financial services to the Authority - both whom reported directly to the Clerk.

The figures prepared by the Finance Officer and the Commissioners’ financial consultant would indeed, as Mr Lewin stated in his Manx Radio interview, be reviewed prior to their submission to the Commissioners. It is the Commissioners understanding that if the Clerk was not satisfied with the way the figures were presented he would issue instructions for changes to be made.

Therefore, the Commissioners would agree with Mr Lewin, who stated in his Manx Radio interview “….as long as the Commissioners are fully aware of the implication of their decision…” that responsibility would lie with the Commissioners for the decision.

However, Mr Lewin was the ‘Chief Officer’ of the Authority with delegated responsibility for its day-to-day management and operation, which included the power to incur expenditure; albeit within certain parameters laid down in the Authority’s Standing Orders.

Part of Mr Lewin’s responsibility included ensuring that the Commissioners were properly and carefully advised as to income and expenditure levels (both current and future) and that expenditure was incurred on an accurate basis in accordance with policy objectives and the approved estimates.

The Commissioners would aver that during 2006 and early 2007, when approving the estimates, or incurring expenditure, their decisions relied heavily on the information and recommendations presented to them by Mr Lewin.

At a meeting held on the 30^th January 2007, the Commissioners were presented with the December 2006 monthly report; the last one they received from Mr Lewin prior to his dismissal. This report was predicting a positive year end balance, at 31^st March 2007, of £62,743 excluding a £20,000 over spend on the housing maintenance account.

The unaudited accounts for the year ending March 31^st 2007, indicate approximately £150,000 of over expenditure on the estimates, of which over £50,000 was salary costs.

Aged capital costs, in excess of authorized borrowing, transferred to the housing account, which was already overspent and therefore charged to general revenue, only accounts for £55,000 of the £250,000 deficit. Approximately £36,000 of this relates to damp proofing and plastering works in Cronkbourne Village.

Therefore, the Commissioners call upon Mr Lewin, to issue a public retraction and apology, as the Commissioners do not believe they were made “fully aware” of the financial position of the Authority or the implications when making some significant decisions on expenditure.

The Commissioners very much regret that today’s and tomorrow’s ratepayers have become the innocent victims of numerous decisions, made over approximately the last 20 years, in which Mr Lewin played a significant and integral part.

Finally, the Commissioners can confirm internal investigations are continuing into expenditure that has been incurred, along with ongoing liabilities, for which it currently appears no estimate provision was made and the Commissioners had not authorized.

Back came Mr Lewin with another interview on Manx Radio.

No he wouldn’t be issuing an apology; it was the Commissioners who made the mistakes, and were not prepared to own up to them. Claiming that there had been no ‘financial meltdown’ during his time at the Authority, his view was the Commissioners were not capable of managing their affairs. He added, “the buck stops at the top” and stated that the apology should be from the Commissioners to the ratepayers as they are the ones who are going to have to pay for the shortfall.

The Commissioners held their monthly Board meeting last night (Tuesday) and it is understood that they decided not to get sucked into a drawn out exchange of words but will be issuing a terse response along the lines of – it will be up to the electorate to decide who they believe is telling the truth.