HEREFORDSHIRE Council’s overview and scrutiny committee will not be making any further investigations into Hereford Futures.

Committee chairman Councillor Alan Seldon said a line had now  been drawn over issues around the “arm’s length” company.

A tacit acceptance at this morning’s scrutiny meeting that things “could have been done better”  over the company’s creation and operation meant there was no further part for scrutiny to play, said Coun Seldon.

 

The acceptance – in relation to transparency over the use of public money and the involvement of councillors on the Hereford Futures board – came from councillors John Jarvis and Adrian Blackshaw, both of whom had significant roles in relation to the company.

“We are now a lot further forward over the governance of arm’s length companies in future,” said Coun Seldon.

 

That future, the meeting resolved, would give the council’s audit and co-operate governance committee a greater say over “arm’s length” companies.

Scrutiny, said Coun Seldon, would now turn its attention to a joint task and project examining the workings of the Marches Local Enterprise Board.

In that, he said, Herefordshire Council would work with Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council.

This week the Hereford Times confirmed that Herefordshire Council has paid out nearly £3m in financial support to Hereford Futures Ltd (HFL) over the past 11 years and was now in talks about taking on the liabilities of the company that it wound up in April last year.

For more see Herefordtimes.com and this week’s Hereford Times.