Drowning in the swimming pool of despair

A source informed me of the following:

The Swimming Pool Trust has abandoned plans to sell the swimming pool site and now intends to rebuild the open air swimming pool on the original site.

If my source is correct, this is a U-turn of major proportions. The Conservatives have therefore dumped McCarthy and Stone retirement flats. Probably the only way out of the situation the Conservatives find themselves in. And that is why I asked for a briefing to the next Neighbourhood Forum.

To recap, the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust are in a legal quagmire/catch 22. They cannot sell the land without HDC, run by the Conservatives, taking half the proceeds. The Charity Commission will not let the land be sold unless the Swimming Pool Trust gets all the proceeds.

At the last elections the Conservatives promised ALL the proceeds will be used for a new outdoor swimming pool. This is a way round that promise.

When my source was asked: "where the money to rebuild the swimming pool was going to come from?" I was informed there is money in a trust. I had to scratch my head here. The swimming pool trust has about £70,000 in cash. So there is no money to rebuild a swimming pool.

The big question has to be is where the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust is going to get the money to pay for a new swimming pool. Will they go for lottery funding or look to a loan to pay for a swimming pool? Is there money squirrelled away from Section 106 agreements? Or has Rowley come forward with another million to pay for this facility? I await with baited breath for the answer!

The basic problem remains the same. The old pool was closed because of losing money and not enough to repair the pool. Any new pool will require public money to run it and public money to refurbish it in the future.

Throwing Rocks into the pool of despair - Swimming Pool Trust Accounts

The Swimming Pool Trust had another good year. The bank balance at the close of the accounts was £68,027. The Trust has enough money to do the basics.

The accounts show the Trust is between a rock and a hard place. The accounts says:

Later on:

So the Trust cannot sell the land unless all the money goes into a permanent endowment. HDC wants half the money.

Yet the residents were informed by Cllr Ursell that:

As the Town Council and therefore the Swimming Pool Trust are Conservative controlled and also HDC is run by the Conservatives the finances should therefore be resolved very soon.

At the election we were informed that:

Only Conservative Town, District and County Councils working together can deliver these objectives.

Well the Conservatives had better get on with it!

Freedom of Information and HDC

I've been pursing HDC over a secret report over the Outdoor Swimming Pool land which the trust deed said HDC was entitled to half the proceeds. Eventually this has been mainly successful. Not without a few refusals along the way.

The initial request was just blocked. The HDC reply to my request is below:

3rd December 2009

You also requested a copy of the report that went to the head of Legal and Estates regarding the disposal of the former St Neots Outdoor Pool by the St Neots Swimming Pool Trust.

Your request for information has been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.

The report was submitted to Cabinet as "exempt information" under paragraphs 3 and 5 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and as such is not in the public domain.

Paragraph 3 relates to "Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)" and paragraph 5 to "Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings".

This report is exempt under Section 42 (1) and Section 43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act.

This exemption applies because releasing this report would damage the commercial interests of the Council as there is still a possibility of the disposal going ahead in the future.

This letter acts as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act.

I then appealed and received a redacted report. This can be found here.

After the revelation that St Neots Swimming Pool Trust was liable to give HDC half the proceeds I proceeded with another Freedom of Information request. The new version of the report is here with less redactions.

So what are the differences?

Version 1

Version 2

All this is informing me what was reported in the Annual Accounts of the Swimming Pool Trust. What was so secret about all this even before the latest accounts were published?

Version 1

Version 2

Now this is the really secret part of the report. But I don't see why any of this needs to be kept secret? It is good news for St Neots and the Conservatives. HDC is doing something good for the people of St Neots and yet HDC hides this information! Why?

Version 1

Version 2

This entire minute was redacted by the Freedom of Information team. Why? It seems former decisions back in 1993 are now to be redacted in full. Is this because I could put a FOI request in for this report!

The only losers in this could be the people of St Neots. All kept secret until after the event.

What was kept redacted?

The reason for this being kept redacted is:
Please find attached the report within which sections 2.5 and 2.6 have been redacted (i.e. blanked out). This request is exempt under Section 42 (1) of FOI act. The Council does not consider it in the public’s interest to release thisinformation.

Section 42 (1) is about legal privilege. It is an exemption that has to be measured against public's interest. What Huntingdonshire District Council is saying is it isn't in the public's interest to know what the legal advice is. But if we don't know what the advice is how are we supposed to have a debate about it!

The only reason for maintaining this exemption is the District Council intends to pursue the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust. Then again why would they do so?

Secrecy in Huntingdonshire District Council is just so ingrained. What has to be so secret about dealings with a Town Council administered Swimming Pool Trust which has members who are also District Councillors. Only the public is being excluded from something that the public has and will pay for in one way or another.

Go on HDC publish the whole report!

Filling the pool of despair

I have received an answer to the Freedom of Information request I put into Huntingdonshire District Council over a secret report to a meeting of Cabinet on 31st January 2008. The whole report with the redacted part can be found here.

The interesting part is this:

The terms provisionally agreed are these:

HDC forgoes taking half the proceeds. The interest from the money HDC gets is to be given back to the project the Swimming Pool Trust comes up with. All this was known in January 2008. So why couldn't the residents of St Neots be told of this back then?

Unless HDC changes its mind, the swimming pool trust will get virtually all the money one way or another. Good news for St Neots!

And that is the crux of all this. This is good news for St Neots. It is also good news for the Conservatives. So why keep all this secret?

The only answer I can think of is the District Council wanted to screw the trust for money. This seems ridiculous because all the St Neots District Councillors should be privy to this information in the secret minutes. Again, why keep all this secret?

Group to consider possible pool sites

St Neots News and Crier - 29/07/2010

So the Swimming Pool Trust is now looking at two pieces of land as possible sites for an open air swimming pool. This from a Trust that can't even get its Annual Report and Accounts in to the Charity Commissioners on time. As previously reported this is not a new feature. How can we trust this body when it can't even keep send its accounts in on time?

Still haven't put in the accounts!

I see the swimming pool trust is still unable to comply with the law and file the annual report and accounts with The Charity Commissioners. I raised this at the Annual Town Meeting and I was informed they would look into this.

Here is a suggestion. The accounts for 2010/11 should be in draft. Why not get the 2009/10 and 2010/11 both approved and file them at the same time! This will stop the continual law breaking by all our Town Councillors.

Treading water in the pool of despair

The Hunts Post St Neots - 07/04/2010 digital edition

The Swimming Pool trust is in the papers again. This time, this unaccountable body, is pushing the pool out to the long grass. Cllr Ursell (St Neots Conservative Councillor) informs the public the land sale will be pushed back. The trouble is land prices will be depressed for a long time. Cllr Gordon Thorpe (Liberal Democrat) is diminishing expectations over the type of pool from a proper open air swimming pool to a splash/fun pool for children.

This is the trouble with having Councillors in charge of this project. This charity is far too close to the Town Council and should have independent trustees. This is shown with the bad reporting record to the Charity Commission.

Getting out of the pool of despair

One of the consequences of the HRC selling St Neots Campus is the blockage for the redevelopment of the area is removed. Now the Swimming Pool Trust can start planning to sell the land and for a new Open Air Swimming Pool facility! 


The planning is already there. The land is going to have a health centre and some housing. That is, of course, if the money raised will be spent on an open air swimming pool.

I quote: "The council plans to choose a site big enough to accommodate a gym and a café. It is hoped that the revenue provided by the gym will cover some of the costs of the swimming pool."

Unlike the ECC with the pre-school, which is a waste of money, the Town Council should stick to just building an open air pool. Let other provide those services.

Even today the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust can't get documents in on line. They have a history of being late!

Sinking in the pool of despair!

As the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust can't get the documents in on time I thought I would look at some quotes about the Open Air Swimming Pool from a couple of Trustees.


Councillor Derek Giles said: "Obviously, our first concern is to provide a new outdoor pool. We have identified Riversmead as the likely site, as it already hosts a number of leisure activities."
"In my opinion the new pool could be ready by summer 2009 as long as there no delays in planning."

The oracle that is Cllr Derek Giles was wrong again. There were no planning delays. So where is the swimming pool?


Cllr Giles said: "...who is also a member of the Swimming Pool Trust, says that a favourable deal has been struck to sell the old site on Huntingdon Street and that a replacement lido will be built on town council-owned land at Riversmead, near to St Neots Rugby Club."


Again Cllr Giles has jumped the gun with favourable deal! The land has yet to be sold and the lido built.

Cllr Ursell said: “The Swimming Pool Trust only exists to provide a swimming pool in the town. St Neots will get a new pool.” 


The council plans to choose a site big enough to accommodate a gym and a café. It is hoped that the revenue provided by the gym will cover some of the costs of the swimming pool. So not all the money will go on a pool!

And who thought this idea up? Cllrs Giles and Thorpe? The former Town Clerk P. Devonald? This won't work. Where is the business plan? Time and again this council uses the casino to gamble on outcomes.

Treading water in the pool of despair!

Oh well! I thought St Neots Town Council (SNTC) and St Neots Swimming Pool Trust (SNSPT) would have finally got their acts together. They are effectively the same organisation. Once again both organisations have been unable to get the Annual Report and Annual Accounts into the Charity Commissioners ON TIME.

OK so they are just 7 days overdue. But this is after having 10 months to prepare and get those accounts ready. As I pointed out on 4th December 2009 they had 75 days to get the Annual Report and Accounts in. The Councillors/Trustees haven't been able to achieve this simple requirement. This is not the first time.

Only once back in 2005 did the Trustees/Town Councillors get one of these important documents into the Charity Commissioner on time. So who is responsible for getting these documents? The Trustees who are also the Town Councillors.

There is one omission. Where is Cllr Steve Van de Kerkhove? Former Cllr Andrew Boulton is still listed as a Trustee.

This Trust is supposed to run a future open air swimming pool. It can't get the basics right how are the people of St Neots going to rely on this trust to provide an Open Air Swimming Pool.

Dipping my toe in the pool of despair!

There was a time when the whole thing would have been secret. With FOI, I was able to obtain one redacted document and the HDC also sent me another as a background document.

The reason why the District Council is involved in swimming pool is the fact there was a mess up over pool ownership back in 1974. Back then local government was being re-organised. The Urban District Councils (UDC) and the Rural District Councils (RDC) were being combined to form the new District Councils. In place of most UDCs and all RDCs Parish Councils were formed where there were none. In the case of St Neots a Parish Council was formed. Back in 1974 the pool should have become the responsibility of the Parish (now Town) Council and should have been transferred to the Parish Council. It wasn't.

In 1987 this error was found out. To correct this HDC entered in to agreement with either SNTC or SNSPT or both. There was a debt of £28,859 associated with the Trust which was dealt with by the District Council foregoing this in return unless the Town Council disposed of the site.

The terms of this agreement are redacted.

The SNSPT approached the District Council for consent to sell the land to put the proceeds for an "alternative recreation committee" as set out in the Trust Deeds.

These documents gets me a bit further down the road to what is going on with the land at the old Swimming Pool site. What I still don't understand is this: The Town Council owns the land. All the SNTC Councillors are  trustees of the St Neots Swimming Pool Trust. The District Council is the other part of this equation. Effectively, this is an agreement between two elected Council over a piece of land. There are Councillors who are on both Councils. So why is this so secret?

Splashing in the pool of despair!

Following on from paddling I have received information from the Charity Commission about the Swimming Pool Trust. I received the reports and accounts for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08. The information I found interesting is:

2005/06 Report and Accounts

• The Trust received was given the swimming pool site by SNTC. The Trust increased its balance sheet by £107,354. 
• The rent received from Eat n' Bowl rose from £10,000 pa to £12,000 pa.
• The Charity Commission told the Trust a sale could go forward only the basis that all proceeds are treated as "permanent endowment".

2006/07 Report and Accounts

• The Trust must either find substantial capital sums to re-instate the swimming pool or sell the land ln order to provide funds for a new facility.
• Due to an Outdoor Pool being a loss making facility the Trust will need to explore other options for the future.
• The freehold land was inspected and valued as at 31 March 2002, by the District Valuer. The valuation was made in accordance with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Valuation Manual. The Trustees are not aware of any material change in the value of the land since the last valuation.

2007/08 Report and Accounts

• Nothing to be added here.

So from these three reports I can take the following:

The Swimming Pool trust received the land at the old swimming pool. Except the Land Registry has the Town Council owning the land. This was registered as Town Council land on 24th January 2007.

Also in each report the land value was given as £107,354. It was also stated the Trustees were not aware of any material change. Although in the 2005/06 accounts it was stated a revaluation would take place on 31/03/07. These accounts were signed on 28/03/07. So what happened to the revaluation?
Hold on a minute. The land was registered at the Land Registry on 24/01/2007. The value was given as £1,000,000.

So our Town Councillors registered land and valued it at £1 million and the same Councillors as Trustees keep telling the Charity Commission it is only worth £107,354. There is something wrong here! Of course the land was valued as an outdoor swimming pool back in 2002. Now without the swimming pool, the land is more valuable.

The law on permanent endowments has changed. This money, with the Charity Commissions agreement, could be used to fund a swimming pool. Otherwise the money would have to be invested and only the interest used to pay towards a swimming pool.

The Eat n' Bowl now pays £12k pa in rent.

Let us hope the Swimming Pool Trust can persuade the Charity Commission to use the money to build a swimming pool. Otherwise the money is pretty useless.


Supporting documents:
Land Registry Entry
2005/06 Report and Accounts
2006/07 Report and Accounts
2007/08 Report and Accounts

BC9JW3S756C5

The old swimming pool fairy tale?

Once upon a time there was an Open Air Swimming Pool. People came from many parts of St Neots to use the pool during those hot summer days. This pool was run by the VAT and business rate efficient St Neots Swimming Pool Trust (SNSPT). Things were good. The Town Councillors were the Trustees. The Trust enjoyed three sources of income. These were:

1. A £20k pa grant given by St Neots Town Council (SNTC).
2. Money from Operations - Admission money and catering.
3. £10k pa from land leased to the Eat n' Bowl.

Things were good until those nasty Health and Safety Inspectors condemned the pool as being "unsafe". Following on, those nasty Insurers decided not to insure the pool.
Balking at the cost to refurbish the pool, the Councillors/Trustees decided to destroy the pool and sell the land. They told the St Neots population that the money from the land sale would be used to build a new pool or something!

But who owns the land?

Back in the 2005/06 it was stated: "The pool is owned by the Trust..."
At the 2007 Annual Town Meeting in answer to a question it was stated: "The trust can sell the land by virtue of the powers in the Charity Acts."

Those answers give the definite impression the land is owned by the SNSPT.

But at the meeting of the Town Council 05/12/2007 it was stated: "Since the land is in the legal ownership of the Town Council,..."

So SNTC is the legal owner not the swimming pool trust?!

At the 05/12/2007 Town Council Meeting it was decided to make the land available to the SNSPT to sell. SNTC went to HDC as they had some rights over the land. In the secret part of the HDC Cabinet meeting (31/01/08) it was decided to authorise the disposal of HDC interests in the land. So what was behind this sale of land? Back to the fairy tale.

The knight in shining armour (Huntingdon Regional College) wanted to expand the St Neots Campus. HRC had gone to a Government Agency for money to achieve this aim. The land was needed for the expansion or something and the College was willing to purchase the land.

They even got Hunts DC to agree to this scheme. Everyone was happy. Until...

The Government Agency decided it didn't have the money to lend to HRC. As the knight in shining armour didn't have the money to expand they couldn't buy the land from SNSPT or SNTC. So the SNSPT is back to square one looking for another knight in shining armour to come along and buy this land.

-------------

So we are left in the situation where the SNTC owns the land. It has given authority to SNSPT to sell the land and take £1 million. Whilst the SNSPT has the same membership as SNTC it is legally a charity and a separate legal body. The Swimming Pool Trust will decide what it wants to do with the money, not the elected Town Council which owns the land. With the sale of this land SNTC is giving the Swimming Pool Trust roughly £1 million. The Trust is not accountable to anyone apart from the Trustees. This will mean all decisions over the use of this £1 million will be made in secret. This is wrong. SNTC must take these decisions!

I can see no advantage of the Town Council giving £1 million of our money to the Swimming Pool Trust. The Town Council land at Riversmead will need to be given to the Trust. There are advantages to having the SNSPT manage a new facility. A different VAT regime and zero business rates are a couple of advantages. But that is all I can find.

And what of the £10,000 pa SNSPT gets from the Eat n' Bowl lease? As it doesn't own the land why is it getting this money? Why is this money being diverted from the land owner, SNTC, to the Trust?

This looks like a bad deal for the Council Taxpayer. Where is the transparency from the Town Council? Where is the democratic accountability over this project? This scheme is wrong, wrong, wrong! 

All this reminds me of a programme on BBC Choice called "Simply Complicated". The basis of the programme was to invent a daft way of doing something simple. Sounds like St Neots Town Council.

And the moral of this fairy tale is: Give it to our Town Councillors and they make something so simple very complicated.

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As an aside I thought I would come up with a contribution for a new outdoor swimming pool. It is outdoor, cost effective and mobile. See below:

Paddling in the pool of despair.

Time and again the red herring of a new open air swimming pool comes up. Looking back at the local press this is something Cllr Derek Giles went on about.
So it was with a bit of concern that I looked into this bit of St Neots history. I found there was a charity which ran the open air swimming pool and all the Councillors of SNTC are trustees on the St Neots Swimming Pool Trust. The Trusts Charity Commission webpage is here.

Since the closure of the swimming pool, the Trust relies on the income it receives from rent on the land leased to Eat n' Bowl next door. The Rent is at £10,000 pa.

The main expenditure of the Trust is the cost of ground maintenance or grass cutting. Plus there is an administration charge levelled at the Trust by the Town Council for the old swimming pool site owned by the Trust.

So, the Town Councillors are the Trustees and charge this charitable trust for all the work the Town Council does in administration. Plus any work to the land at the old swimming pool site.

So what is the record of this Town Council in respect of this? The answer is pretty simple. Atrocious! Not only does the Town Council keep missing deadlines for its client it isn't really that good at administrating this tiny charity.

The problem with this cosy arrangement is the Town Council has little incentive to stop this arrangement. It is way beyond time the Trustees were independent of the Town Council. Rather than the same 18 Councillors who have presided over two damning audit reports!

The only report on time was the 2005 accounts.