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Dear Editor,

Re:- Not as exciting as Colin Tearle suspects

After reading Cllr Hassett's reply to my question I thought I may have misread Shepway District Council's report number C/06/119. Not a bit of it.

I contacted Shepway District Council's press office who sent me the following response: `Yes, the paragraph referring to Shepway District Council (SDC) borrowing money from Folkestone Town Council is correct. Lee Walker, one of our accountants, would be happy to provide a further explanation, if needed`.

No ambiguity there, so I 'phoned him.

Mr Walker confirmed that Folkestone Town Council (FTC) has indeed loaned SDC £350,000 on 2 day recall. Also there was some borrowing from FTC last year.

Furthermore, he went on to say that it was not possible for FTC to 'piggy-back' on Shepway's investment scheme as Cllr. Hassett described, on funds held with Investec, as this fund was mainly made up of capital receipts from things such as the sale of council houses, and as such is 'ring-fenced' and totally separate from the general fund.

I was also quite surprised that Cllr. Hassett as chairman of FTC's finance committee did not know that they receive their precepts half-yearly from Shepway, and not quarterly.

Colin Tearle
Shepway Independents