THE chief executive of Thurrock Council with a £469m funding black hole this financial year has resigned.
Conservative leader of Thurrock Council, Mark Coxshall, announced the departure of Lyn Carpenter at a cabinet meeting reports the BBC.
He told councillors he received a letter of resignation on Monday which he “accepted with immediate effect”.
The £469m shortfall is three times its annual budget, and £275m of taxpayers’ money will be lost as a result.
Mr Coxshall told the meeting he would recruit a new substantive chief executive in the new year.
At the meeting he described the financial position of the council as “grim”.
Ms Carpenter has been on extended leave since September when the government appointed commissioners to oversee the finances and investigate what has gone on at the authority.
Finance director Sean Clark was suspended and the then council leader and finance cabinet member resigned in September.
Thurrock Council announced it had lost £275m from investments it made largely in solar energy.
It borrowed hundreds of millions of pounds from other councils to invest – and now has a debt of £1.5bn.
It has had to request exceptional financial support from the government.
Interim finance director Jonathan Wilson said the council will issue a section 114 notice before Christmas formally declaring that the council cannot balance its books.
Please will Thurrock confirm that Lyn Carpenter loses the golden parachute payout for resigning after doing such an apalling job
half a billion quid !????
Carpenter must be prosecuted and jailed for her role in fraud and deception causing the loss of hundreds of millions of pounds from hard working ratepayers. Her cohorts like Gledhill must join her. She is a criminal
Why are these people just allowed to resign with no consequences for the disgusting way they have squandered taxpayers cash and the abysmal state they’ve left Thurrock in? They are not just incompetent…there should be a criminal investigation!
No Payments made to Ms Carpenter than those entitled to.
Be very careful Terry Mullins Making accusations and calling someone a criminal
Essex Police are NOT carrying out an investigation.
There are questions to answer but Councillors have been privy to meetings and decisions around the councils finances for many months
Don’t for one second think I’m going to pay more council tax because you lot have p***ed all our money up the wall and walked away scott free by the looks of it. Every single one of these people needs to be prosecuted, you’re all an absolute disgrace.
Does that include the councillors Committing Misconduct in a public office?