Pay error to council leader costs £20,000 Rodd robes up for new role


AMIX-UP over payments to KCC leader Paul Carter, who represents Maidstone Rural North, resulted inmore than £20,000 being paid to a maintenance fitter with the same name. The council managed to retrieve only £769 but said it was unable


to recover any more as the other Paul Carter had resigned and left the country. He was now believed to be in Eastern Europe. Allowances of £21,398, intended for the council leader over a pe-


riod of seven months, were paid by mistake to his namesake who worked at Aylesford Commercial Services depot. The last payment was made to the maintenance man, then aged


54, in March 2008. The payroll error was discovered the following month when the council leader’s secretary in his private office no- ticed that his overdraft was near its limit. He told the BBC: “My secretary and my own office suggested to


me that I needed to rein back on expenditure. Clearly thingsweren’t quite right.” He asked her to check that his leader’s allowance had been paid into his personal bank account and it hadn’t. Themistake had occurred when an employee entered a change of


bank details from the council leader onto the other Paul Carter’s record. KCC immediately deducted £769 from the maintenance fit- ter’s net monthly salary of £1,600 but had since been unable to trace him. The council said it would still continue to re-establish full re- covery of the debt if possible.


Continued from page one Partnership, which submitted the bid for fund- ing, said: “This is great news for Maidstone. It is particularly important that it links together four projects which deliver a consistent mes- sage into schools, colleges and to young peo- ple, both directly and via outreach workers and those involved in the town’s night time economy.” Paul Alcock, chairman ofMaidstone’s Night Economy Business Forum, said: “Baroness Newlove is well aware of the excellent part- nerships we already have in Maidstone and that we will share our expertise with other towns in the UK as a result of winning this


MAIDSTONE’S new Mayor has robed up for his year in office. Yalding and Marden Cllr


Rodd Nelson-Gracie was in- vested in a ceremony in the council chamber at the Town Hall, following the annual Civic Service at All Saints’


Rodd Nelson- Gracie, right, with deputy mayor Clive Eng- lish at the mayor making ceremony


Church. Family and friends joined his


fellow councillors and officers of the borough to see him take over the civic mantle from Cllr BrianMortimer. DeputyMayor for the year is Cllr Clive Eng- lish.


Town’s alcohol efforts boosted by new cash award bid.”


Some£25,000 of the money will be spent on stepping up alcohol education in schools, while £10,000will allow the Urban Blue Bus to function on Fridays as well as Saturdays. Another £10,000 will support “Hot Spot” work by agencies battling to prevent drink-fu- elled disruptive and rowdy behaviour on the streets and £10,000 will be spent over the two years on issuing 10,000 free bottles of water to youngsters worse for wear at the end of a night out.


Baroness Newlove has acknowledged the


good work done in Maidstone in the past, par- ticularly with its UrbanBlue Bus, which saves


the ambulance service thousands of pounds each year. She has also applauded the town’sCommu-


nity Alcohol Partnership, which has tackled the proxy purchasing of alcohol and the “No ID No Sale” programme challenges anyone who appears to be under 25. Police patrols confiscate alcohol from minors and their de- tails and other information is passed on to the youth services to follow up. Other recipients of funding from the Gov- ernment Champion for Active Safer Commu- nities are Bury, Chelmsford, Cornwall, County Durham, Lincoln, Moseley,Newcastle, Shrop- shire andWakefield.


Wish you were here! Wi is you er h re!ere yo ou were er


Please call for membership information on 01622 656941 Village Health & Fitness Maidstone Just off J6 M20


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330 Town 3


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