Ruling Conservatives on South Kesteven District Council have been accused of not taking their responsibilities seriously for not submitting the accounts of InvestSK fast enough.

Opposition Council Ashley Baxter highlights that the Companies House website reveals that the 2019/20 accounts for SKDC's wholly owned economic development company, InvestSK Ltd, have not been submitted over a year after the end of the financial year.

Coun Baxter says the responsibility for submitting InvestSK's accounts lies squarely with its three Directors, namely: Council Leader Coun Kelham Cooke; Deputy Leader, Coun Barry Dobson (Con) and SKDC's Chief Executive, Karen Bradford.

The deadline for submitting company accounts is 12 months after the end of the financial year which, in the case of InvestSK, was March 31.

Failure to deliver accounts on time is a criminal offence. In addition, the law imposes a civil penalty for late filing of accounts on the company.

Coun Ashley Baxter (Ind- Market and West Deeping) said: "This is a total embarrassment for the Council. One of the main reasons for InvestSK's very existence is to offer advice to local businesses yet it can't even manage its own finances properly. The councillors involved are all too eager when it comes to photo-opportunities and hob-nobbing but clearly they do not take seriously the responsibilites that come with being a Company Director".

Coun Baxter has pledged to raise the issue with Cllr Graham Jeal who Chairs the Companies Committee, which aims to scrutinise the management of InvestSK Ltd.

Coun Phil Dilks (Ind-Deeping St James) said: "It was clear from the outset that it would be difficult for Councillors to monitor the activities of InvestSK. This task is not made any easier when the Directors fail in their statutory duty to publish accounts".

InvestSK was established in 2018 and in the first year it was granted £1.3million of ratepayers money by SKDC as part of the economic ambitions of former SKDC leader Matthew Lee. Since then it's budget has been reduced considerably, with its focus switching towards supporting businesses through the pandemic and distributing government grants.

Coun Cooke, as Chairman of InvestSK, has since told Coun Baxter that the InvestSK 2019/20 accounts were filed with Companies House in line with the deadline for submission of March 31 2021.

He continued: "Upon submission we were informed that companies house were experiencing a delay in publishing filed accounts and that this would delay formal notification on the relevant company page. Having checked again this morning we are expecting the accounts to be processed over the next couple of days and for the relevant company page to be updated accordingly.

"As you know from following us closely over the last 12 months, InvestSK and our dedicated team of Officers have worked tirelessly to administer nearly £50m of Government support to businesses across the District and supporting our businesses through and hopefully out of lockdown remains our ultimate priority, that said we also recognise our own duty as a business and strategic partner of SKDC and worked with our external auditors to ensure we met the relevant deadline for filing our accounts."

Coun Cooke added: "I hope this clarifies the matter and I will happily share with you the updated companies house information once published."

InvestSK manager Jon Hinde has also told Coun Baxter the Accounts were considered at the InvestSK Board Meeting held on May 13 2020.

An initial external audit meeting was instructed on August 18 2020.

The letter of representation was signed on behalf of the InvestSK Board of Directors on March 30 2021.

The accounts were posted to Companies House on March 30 2021 and Companies House confirmed receipt on March 31 2021, he told the opposition councillor.

By this morning, Companies House still had to update its information on InvestSK.