Uttlesford District Council has started recruiting new independent members to join the council’s new Investment Board. Do you have asset management experience and want to help your community?
John Lodge (R4U)R4U’s John Lodge continued “UDC needs to generate an income from property investment to make up the £3.5million shortfall in Westminster funding. The previous leader oversaw the whole council fund of £50 million of taxpayer money invested in a single asset. That is against all best-practices. Once elected to lead UDC one of our first actions was to create a transparent all-party Investment Board. It is most surprising that it didn’t exist before. The Board is properly constituted and makes recommendations on investments. Importantly the final decisions are made by all councillors because these big financial investments require collective accountability.”
Cllr Lodge added “I am currently overseeing the Board on an interim basis after Cllr Fairhurst left his portfolio. However my intent is that one of the new external independent Board members will be appointed to chair it once they have completed a probationary period. This is another key difference between the previous administration and this one. We inherited a council where the leader also chaired a number of working groups. That is too much concentration of power in one person and not good democracy; and so one-by-one we’ve brought in new chairs to these committees at the appropriate time, as we are doing here.”
Cllr John Lodge concluded “It is clear through these and other actions that R4U is committed to delivering outstanding levels of governance and a local government that is responsible with your money.”