One of the more curious financial arrangements involving our county council in the last year or two was the division of the spoils between the council and Scarlets Regional Ltd from the sale of a car park adjacent to the Parc Y Scarlets stadium, see The Council, the Scarlets and the Allowable Expenses - a Revelation. The car park was sold to Marstons' Inns so became known as the Marstons' Deal.
Out of a sale price of £850,000 the '50/50 split' turned out to be £650,000 for the club and £200,000 for the Carmarthenshire taxpayer. One of the 'allowable expenses' deducted from the total was a surprise £280,000 for the Scarlets to pay off a third party loan. The loan had been from HDD Developments for the fixtures and fittings of the Scarlets shop and restaurant, The Red Room, in the council led Eastgate development in Llanelli.
The actual details of the split, and the 'allowable' deductions were eventually revealed by the now former Exec Board member for Resources, Labour's Cllr Jeff Edmunds. In other words, he spilled the beans.
Some time, and several FoIs later, it transpired that both the Council's Director of Resources and the Head of Corporate Property had deemed this payment of £280,000 to be unacceptable. However, at the last minute they appeared to be both overruled by Mr James and the deal, with this 'allowable expense', was done.
However, despite the generosity of our council the Red Room didn't last and around October last year the Scarlets sub-let the premises to another company, run by two rugby players, rent free for the first eighteen months.
As reported recently in the press, Scarlets Regional Ltd made a net loss of £1.7m and an excess of liabilities over assets of £4,1m in the financial year 2013/14. The council's generous involvement in the club, led by our chief executive, has been well documented and was most recently featured in the Herald's Cadno column (see Today's papers).
So what happened to the allowable expense of £280,000 which left the taxpayer somewhat shortchanged by the Marston's deal? According to the Scarlets' latest accounts it went down the pan along with the Red Room.
As the future rental income is now dependent on the new management remaining viable after the 18 month free rent period, the value of the premises as a fixed asset for the Scarlets is now 'nil' and £275,000 has been written off as an 'exceptional cost'.
All a bit ironic really for Cllr Jeff Edmunds, it was his honesty over this matter (he'd even resisted the persuasive charms of the chief executive who urged him not to reveal the details) which undoubtedly marked his card as 'unreliable' and unsuitable Leadership material by Pam and Meryl, and of course, Mark.
Out of a sale price of £850,000 the '50/50 split' turned out to be £650,000 for the club and £200,000 for the Carmarthenshire taxpayer. One of the 'allowable expenses' deducted from the total was a surprise £280,000 for the Scarlets to pay off a third party loan. The loan had been from HDD Developments for the fixtures and fittings of the Scarlets shop and restaurant, The Red Room, in the council led Eastgate development in Llanelli.
The actual details of the split, and the 'allowable' deductions were eventually revealed by the now former Exec Board member for Resources, Labour's Cllr Jeff Edmunds. In other words, he spilled the beans.
Some time, and several FoIs later, it transpired that both the Council's Director of Resources and the Head of Corporate Property had deemed this payment of £280,000 to be unacceptable. However, at the last minute they appeared to be both overruled by Mr James and the deal, with this 'allowable expense', was done.
However, despite the generosity of our council the Red Room didn't last and around October last year the Scarlets sub-let the premises to another company, run by two rugby players, rent free for the first eighteen months.
As reported recently in the press, Scarlets Regional Ltd made a net loss of £1.7m and an excess of liabilities over assets of £4,1m in the financial year 2013/14. The council's generous involvement in the club, led by our chief executive, has been well documented and was most recently featured in the Herald's Cadno column (see Today's papers).
So what happened to the allowable expense of £280,000 which left the taxpayer somewhat shortchanged by the Marston's deal? According to the Scarlets' latest accounts it went down the pan along with the Red Room.
As the future rental income is now dependent on the new management remaining viable after the 18 month free rent period, the value of the premises as a fixed asset for the Scarlets is now 'nil' and £275,000 has been written off as an 'exceptional cost'.
All a bit ironic really for Cllr Jeff Edmunds, it was his honesty over this matter (he'd even resisted the persuasive charms of the chief executive who urged him not to reveal the details) which undoubtedly marked his card as 'unreliable' and unsuitable Leadership material by Pam and Meryl, and of course, Mark.