The New Saints (TNS) Football Club – a statement from Clive Wright, Shropshire Council’s chief executive
The New Saints (TNS) Football Club – a statement from Clive Wright, Shropshire Council’s chief executive:-
A grant of £80,000 was made by Shropshire Council to The New Saints (TNS) Football Club and this was used to build a new stand, thereby bringing both economic and community benefits. As part of the conditions of the grant TNS were to make payments equal to the £80,000 of grant they received to local projects to be determined by the Oswestry Economic Board. £10,000 was paid out to fund local projects but then the Oswestry Economic Board became dormant. The remaining £70,000 was not paid out.
The police have looked into this matter and they can find no evidence of criminal activity. Shropshire Council’s internal audit team have produced an excellent report giving full and open disclosure of the available evidence which enables conclusions to be drawn, and again no wrongdoing was found. A redacted version of this report has been made available. This is an unusual step, as the council does not routinely air disputes with individuals or groups via the media. However, due to the strong and repeated media interest and because of potentially misleading statements made with no supporting evidence, the council chose to be open and transparent. The unredacted report has been made available to all elected members.
Elected members of the council have made allegations and some of these have gone in the press. The Monitoring Officer of the council has asked for evidence relating to these allegations, but none has been forthcoming.
There is a call from certain political parties, supported by some elected members, for an inquiry into the TNS issues. However, it is the view of council senior officers that there is nothing to be gained from this and it would not be in the public interest as the chronology of events recording what happened are clear, the police have no evidence of any crime and our audit finds no wrongdoing.
Currently the council is in dispute with TNS over the repayment of part of the grant. It is the view of senior officers that this is the only matter outstanding based on the facts presented. The council believes that £70,000 should be repaid within the terms of the grant agreement and we understand that TNS disagree and contest this. The council is in correspondence with TNS to understand their argument. However, unless new and further evidence emerges to which the council is open to receiving, the council will progress to legal proceedings which we believe will be conclusive in settling the dispute.
People can read the redacted report and redacted report addendum by clicking on the links.
