Police say no action will be taken against a Burntwood councillor at the centre of a tree funding controversy.
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd had been referred to officers by Staffordshire County Council after an internal audit investigation into £924 awarded to him last year.
Despite being given the money to plant trees, the Burntwood North candidate’s now dissolved community interest company failed to either purchase or plant any.
But, the county council confirmed that only half of the money had been paid back by the end of February with the remainder expected this month.
A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said:
“The investigation has concluded and no further action is being taken.”
Staffordshire Police spokesperson
Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd had previously stepped down from two parish council roles in the wake of the tree funding controversy.
He had also emailed the chairman of the county council last week saying he was intending to resign from his remunerated position.
But at the time of writing, he remains listed as an independent member on the authority’s website.
The initial funding was awarded to Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd when he was a Conservative candidate, with a first payment of £580 on 15th March 2021 with a further £344 paid on 13th May – just three days after he won the Burntwood North seat.
The money came from the county council’s own climate change fund via former Tory councillor Helen Fisher, who has since gone on to become Deputy Staffordshire Commissioner.
But it emerged in November that Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd’s tree-planting project had not gone ahead and that his Nature Nuturing Community Interest Company had not even submitted the required confirmation statement and was subsequently dissolved as a result.
The county council has told Lichfield Live that it did not agree to a repayment plan for the return of the funding and that it had not asked the councillor to pay interest on the money, despite it being with him for almost a year.
Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd himself has continually refused to confirm why he could not pay the cash back, despite acknowledging that it had not been spent on the project he had been awarded it for, but did confirm that he had not spent it on an engagement ring or a house move.
He has previously spoken about the reasons why the tree planting did not go ahead.
“The trees were intended to be planted on a path at Chasewater, which the rangers and the organisers of the country park were in agreement with. I had hoped this to be part of something much bigger.
“The trees were to maintained by a group of volunteers who sought to build an orchard and would be self-funding. This did not happen and is a major factor as to why the whole thing fell through.
“The reason for the delay was also because I was moving home straight after the election and the ranger who I was in contact with seemed to not have a nine to five daily working hours, which provided a huge problem during a time when we were leaving lockdown and getting our lives back to normal.”
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd speaking in December 2021
