When facing the prospect of being responsible for loosing £4m of tax payers money and asked where the money is now, what should the answer be? Should the local councillor, the Lib Dem Portfolio Holder for Finance Cllr Paul Smith, reply

Somewhere in Reykjavik, I suppose?

Is loosing £4m of tax payers money a laughing matter? One should point out that even though £4m sounds less than Kent’s £50 loss, relative to income, this is a critical blow to my new Borough. £4m is about 20% of the annual budget of the Borough Council and corresponds to a Council Tax rise of 3%!

As a result, I have put in my first FIO request to the borough:

To whom it may concern

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information with regards to the recent £4m “investment” in Landisbanki or one of its subsidiaries:

1. What financial advice was received by Colchester Borough Council on investments from 1st October 2007 until 10th October 2008?
2. What companies, individuals or government departments are responsible for advising Colchester Borough Council on financial matters?
3. What councillors were aware of the large investment (or impending investment) made to Landisbanki before the 6th October 2008?
4. Who was present at meetings when the decision was made to make the investment? Copies of all relevant meeting minutes should be included, if available and possible.
5. What was the purpose of the money deposited in Landisbanki - was it short term storage (e.g council tax receipts due to be spent) or long term investment/income?
6. What credit rating agencies were used to judge risk associated with investments, particularly those made in Landisbanki.

Whilst there are several requests for information here, these should be treated as individual and independent requests. They were collated into a single email for ease and convenience. If this email is treated as a single request and is above the £450 handling limit, separate emails will be sent containing the same requests.

I can be contacted via:
{my address}
All contact, including copies of the information requested, should be via email unless it is not possible. If you wish any clarification of the points, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kindest regards,

Alan Drew.