Last week the Woking Liberal Democrats wilfully made misleading statements about the Thameswey Group of Companies, owned by Woking Borough Council, when they suggested Conservative Group Directors deliberately overstated asset value and income. Since its inception the Thameswey Group of Companies has been independently audited.
In the summer of 2020, the Conservative administration began the process of changing the auditors due to the growth of the companies requiring a more experienced firm. Local firm Menzies were chosen following a robust tendering process. Menzies were required to establish the final position of previous accounts to ensure the accounts going forwards. These new statements treated land values differently to how they had previously been stated, due to the land being originally recorded at cost value rather than current value. This changing valuation is being deliberately misrepresented by the Lib Dem administration as debt.
Conservative Group Leader Cllr Kevin Davis said “Councillor Directors were there to ensure political oversight of council companies, but the companies also had Independent Directors, Officer Directors, and an Independent Chair to ensure independent oversight of all company activity. All decision making was based on council policy, agreed by council and audited each year by independent auditors – Hamlyns. The implication that Conservative directors somehow deliberately overstated asset value and income is ludicrous and shows a gross misunderstanding of how the companies operated.”
Former Leader of the Council Cllr Ayesha Azad added “We have a situation where two auditors have valued Council assets differently, but it’s typical Liberal Democrat behaviour - misinforming and misrepresenting information to further their political agenda.”
