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# County council refuses to confirm if money for Burntwood tree planting scheme has been paid back
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/county-council-refuses-to-confirm-if-money-for-failed-burntwood-tree-planting-scheme-has-been-paid-back/
- Published: 2021-12-19T08:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-12-18T21:49:35.000Z
- Description: Council chiefs have refused to confirm whether money for a tree planting project in Burntwood that never took place has been paid back.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Burntwood, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 19:15, News

Council chiefs have refused to confirm whether money for a tree planting project in Burntwood that never took place has been paid back.

![Bank notes](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Money.jpg)

Staffordshire County Council awarded £924 to Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd prior to his election earlier this year.

But after it emerged no trees had been planted or even purchased, he was [suspended for six months](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/burntwood-councillor-handed-six-month-suspension-by-conservative-group-over-funding-for-tree-planting-project/) by the controlling Conservative group at the authority.

Earlier this month, county council officials confirmed that Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd had been [ordered to repay the money in full](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/county-council-says-money-given-to-councillor-for-tree-planting-will-be-paid-back-after-it-emerged-project-never-went-ahead/).

But a spokesperson has told *Lichfield Live* that they could not reveal whether or not that had now happened.

> “We are carrying out an internal audit review of grants given under the Climate Change Fund and will report on the findings in due course.   
>  
> “It would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this stage.”  
>  
> Staffordshire County Council spokesperson

![Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/bigpic-21.jpg)

Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd

Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd – who is now sitting as an independent member of the county council – has previously said he was [“deeply embarrassed”](https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/burntwood-councillor-deeply-embarrassed-by-controversy-over-tree-planting-project/) by the incident.

But he has insisted he will not resign from the county council.

> “I intend to stay on as an independent councillor – and I won’t rule out remaining so for the rest of my term as a councillor.  
>  
> “Resigning – at least from the county council – is something I would not consider.  
>  
> “One advantage of my current predicament is that for the next few months I will have the ability to express myself more freely and frequently than I have done before on matters in my division of Burntwood North.”  
>  
> Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd, Staffordshire County Council