Latest news with #LifeFactory
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Chair of the Glastonbury Town Deal board resigns
The chair of the Glastonbury Town Deal board has resigned after a damning audit into a government-backed regeneration project in the town. The board has been overseeing 10 projects, delivered by Somerset Council and other organisations, funded by £23.6m from the government's Towns Fund. After an independent audit the council confirmed in May that it would not provide further funding towards the upgrade of the Red Brick Building C (also known as The Life Factory) - leaving local contractors in limbo and the work unfinished. Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, who chairs the advisory-only board, has now resigned from her position for "personal reasons", alongside another board member. In her resignation letter to council chief executive Duncan Sharkey, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dr Sedgmore said: "I genuinely believe it is best for the board, in the context of continuing and increasing unsubstantiated public attacks on me, that I stand down." She added: "During my time as chair, I have willingly given considerable time, energy, skills, commitment and dedication to the effectiveness of the board. It has been a privilege to serve Glastonbury in this way. "There has been significant progress on all but one town deal project (The Life Factory), and the two projects completed this year have been a huge success. There are many more successes to come before final completion in March 2026. "I am on the receiving end of personal and professional attacks in the public domain suggesting financial impropriety. While the accusations are without foundation, this is damaging to the board as well as to myself. "My resignation is not connected to any form of inappropriate fiscal accountability, on my part or that of the board." Dr Sedgmore had served as chair since October 2021, following the death of original chairman Robert Richards. Kama McKenzie, a community representative who has sat on the board since its inception in 2020, has also resigned. Current vice chair and Glastonbury mayor Councillor Michael White will act as temporary chair. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the board said it was hopeful that additional funding could be secured urgently to complete the Life Factory project and pay outstanding creditors. A spokesman said: "Having read the SWAP report, we understand the rationale for this decision by the council as the accountable body. However, we remain very concerned about the impact this decision will have on our community." Somerset Council has previously said no more funds will be available for the Life Factory after the audit made clear that despite almost £3m being spent, the project cannot be delivered "in time with the Grant Funding Agreement". Duncan Sharkey, the council's chief executive, said the authority "accepts the [report's] findings that our level of oversight and monitoring could have been strengthened". Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. 'No more funds' for youth regeneration project 'Fiasco' youth regeneration project is paused 'Tangible' progress being made on £23m projects Red Brick Centre Glastonbury Town Deal Somerset Council Somerset Council
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Glastonbury Town Deal chair Dr Lynne Sedgmore resigns
The chair of the Glastonbury Town Deal board has resigned after a damning audit into a government-backed regeneration project in the board has been overseeing 10 projects, delivered by Somerset Council and other organisations, funded by £23.6m from the government's Towns an independent audit the council confirmed in May that it would not provide further funding towards the upgrade of the Red Brick Building C (also known as The Life Factory) - leaving local contractors in limbo and the work Lynne Sedgmore CBE, who chairs the advisory-only board, has now resigned from her position for "personal reasons", alongside another board member. In her resignation letter to council chief executive Duncan Sharkey, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dr Sedgmore said: "I genuinely believe it is best for the board, in the context of continuing and increasing unsubstantiated public attacks on me, that I stand down." She added: "During my time as chair, I have willingly given considerable time, energy, skills, commitment and dedication to the effectiveness of the board. It has been a privilege to serve Glastonbury in this way."There has been significant progress on all but one town deal project (The Life Factory), and the two projects completed this year have been a huge success. There are many more successes to come before final completion in March 2026. Accusations 'without foundation' "I am on the receiving end of personal and professional attacks in the public domain suggesting financial impropriety. While the accusations are without foundation, this is damaging to the board as well as to myself."My resignation is not connected to any form of inappropriate fiscal accountability, on my part or that of the board."Dr Sedgmore had served as chair since October 2021, following the death of original chairman Robert McKenzie, a community representative who has sat on the board since its inception in 2020, has also vice chair and Glastonbury mayor Councillor Michael White will act as temporary a statement issued on Tuesday, the board said it was hopeful that additional funding could be secured urgently to complete the Life Factory project and pay outstanding creditors.A spokesman said: "Having read the SWAP report, we understand the rationale for this decision by the council as the accountable body. However, we remain very concerned about the impact this decision will have on our community."Somerset Council has previously said no more funds will be available for the Life Factory after the audit made clear that despite almost £3m being spent, the project cannot be delivered "in time with the Grant Funding Agreement".Duncan Sharkey, the council's chief executive, said the authority "accepts the [report's] findings that our level of oversight and monitoring could have been strengthened".
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Life Factory project: 'No more funds' after damning report
"No further funds" will be given by a council to a youth regeneration project after serious concerns were raised about leaders' financial Council froze funds to Glastonbury's Life Factory in January 2024, after bosses said they were not "able to adequately reconcile invoices" in grant claims with actual spend and progress on new leadership team at Red Brick Building Centre, which runs the site, said its "deeply disappointed" with an independent audit's findings, which highlighted a lack of accountability.A council spokesperson said the authority accepts that its level of oversight and monitoring "could have been strengthened". The report also warned the government could request its £2.89m back if officials decide the "terms of the grant have not been met".After the grant was halted in January, construction work stopped on site and several contractors were left workers told the BBC that they are owed tens of thousands of pounds. The Red Brick Building C project was previously awarded £2.89m from the government under the Glastonbury Town Deal (GTD) to develop a community space, mainly for young people. Spending of this money was being overseen by Somerset a South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) report has now concluded that it has "no assurance" that there were sound governance arrangements and financial controls in place at Red Brick Building Centre Ltd or Somerset regards to the Red Brick Building Centre, the report states: "We have seen no evidence of a delivery plan showing how the building will be delivered within budget, scope and on time."It said a condition of the grant funding was that match funding would be obtained, but this had not gone beyond gathering expressions of interest. 'Lack of accountability' The report explains that a subsidiary company called Beckery Construction was set up to keep costs down, but said the introduction of this company confused the relationship between all parties, leading to a breakdown in communication, poor governance and lack of report said: "The majority of control weaknesses in delivery lie with The Red Brick Building and Beckery Construction Company."At Beckery Construction, auditors found many standard HR processes were not followed, including no formal recruitment being in place sub-contractors, one employee didn't have a contract and timesheets were either incorrectly submitted or filled out at report said: "Financial controls such as budget monitoring and cash flow forecasting were not operating, no approval for expenditure was sought from the Red Brick building board, and financial records were not always accessible, complete or accurate".With regards to the council, the auditors said: "Grant payments were not processed in line with the Grant Funding Agreement."Given the complexity of the renovation of Building C and the values involved more assurances should have been sought by [them] that robust governance and oversight arrangements were in place and a competent and qualified project team were in place."The report pointed out that the government may now ask for its money back, if it feels that the terms of its grant have not been met. 'Deeply disappointed' In a statement posted on social media, the new leadership team at Red Brick report makes it clear this "was a collective failure" across all parties."While we deeply regret that the Life Factory will no longer be able to continue in its original form, we remain committed to learning from this experience and ensuring it is never repeated," they said.A former director of Beckery Construction and ex-member of the Red Brick board said the SWAP report "does not fully reflect the complexity, the good intentions, the actions taken, and the repeated efforts to gain clarity on the financial situation".It added that council representatives had frequent meetings with the project while the ex-director of Beckery was in post, he said the financial accounts for Life Factory were externally audited with "no serious concerns raised". Somerset Council has released a statement saying "no further funds" will be released to the council said the audit has made clear that despite almost £3m being spent on the Life Factory, "it cannot be successfully delivered in line with the Grant Funding Agreement, and it is therefore not clear if the project will ever be completed".Duncan Sharkey, the council's chief executive, said the authority "accepts the [report's] findings that our level of oversight and monitoring could have been strengthened".As a result, the council's management of other infrastructure projects have been reviewed. What happens now? The council said it is "not contractually responsible for any payments to contractors", but adds it does "understand the impact this is having on those with legitimate claims".Council bosses said they would continue to work with the Red Brick Building.A spokesperson for Red Brick Building Centre said they have "always had the community at the heart of this project and is the reason we took this project on"."And for these reasons, we called it into question and put a pause on the project at the beginning of 2024. "We are working very closely with Somerset Council to find a way through this, and our shareholder and creditors are our top priority," they council's audit committee will discuss the report at its meeting on Thursday.
