Minehead Money Mess
How did a town council come to pay tens of thousands of pounds to a councillor? Now PKF report it should not have done. We look at the background and some of the questions that have not been asked..
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The arrival of a letter from the appointed auditor to town and parish councils across the country will not have come as a massive surprise to Minehead Town Council. The letter from PKF Littlejohn LLP (PKF) dated 29 May 2025 contains a Public Interest Report into events at the town council between 2019 and 2022.
PKF act as external auditors to all town and parish councils in England. The contract is retendered every few years. The winning firm are tasked with checking the annual financial returns (known as an AGARs) of all parish and town councils. However if a member of the public raises questions about a return, PKF must investigate and depending on what they find, issue a Public Interest Report.
Every council pays a fee for their external audit, but that, depending on the size of the council, is usually a few hundred pounds.
Public Interest Reports are different.
They are unusual but not unknown in our county. In Somerton back in 2009 the mass resignation of councillors prompted civil war in the town between the supporters of the new council and supporters of the councillors who resigned over the next three years
A Public Interest Report published in 2012 looked into the row, but ultimately cost Somerton Town Council some £60,000 in extra audit fees.
What was the source of discontent in Minehead though?
The saga here dates back to the termination of town clerk Jenny Bashford who was first suspended and then dismissed, all within her contractual probation period. When she was dismissed in July 2020 she took legal proceedings against the Council and individual councillors.
So far so unfortunate, but not exceptional.
What proved to be a little more controversial, was that before the council terminated the employee, the council decided in May 2020 to appoint then Minehead Town Councillor Andrew Kingston-James (please note all references throughout this piece are to Andrew Kingston-James, not his husband who was also a serving town councillor at the time), to help them with HR issues relating to case.