Reforms are being made to three Somerset town centre regeneration bodies to prevent public money from being wasted.

South Somerset District Council has made regenerating the town centres of Yeovil, Chard and Wincanton a major priority for the next few years.

A regeneration board has been set up for each town, whose membership included the elected ward members, to oversee the commercial decisions associated with the numerous regeneration projects.

An internal audit found “inconsistencies” in the amount of information being provided to each board, hindering their ability to make correct decisions and threatening a “potential overspend” in each town.

The council said that only minor changes needed to be made and there would be no risk to the projects currently being undertaken.

What regeneration efforts are taking place?

The council has committed £7.5million towards its three regeneration schemes – £3million to Chard, £2.5million to Yeovil and £2million to Wincanton.

The Chard regeneration scheme centres around delivering a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the former ACI site on Silver Street, to replace the now-defunct Cresta Leisure Centre on Zembard Lane.

Construction on the new pool is proceeding at pace, with the facility expected to be completed and open to the public by the end of 2021.

Later phases of this scheme will involve converting both Boden Mill and Holyrood Mill for residential and commercial use, and making improvement to the appearance of the High Street.

The Yeovil regeneration scheme (known as Yeovil Refresh) involved a number of projects around the town centre, including the possible pedestrianisation of Middle Street, a review of car parking provision, and improvements to the public realm (including benches, statues and water features).

While some of this work has been delayed by the coronavirus, the council did agree its design guide for the public realm in March – meaning it has much more control over what can and can’t be built in the town centre in the future.

The Wincanton regeneration scheme involves potential residential or commercial development in the town centre, as well as work to improve the appearance of the town’s many listed buildings and a programme of cultural events.

The council stated in August that it would be consulting on planned public realm improvements in the autumn, and had launched a grant programme to help local groups put on events in the town centre.

What did the auditors say?

The internal auditors – the Yeovil-based South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) – published a report on the regeneration boards and their work to date ahead of a meeting of the council’s audit committee on Thursday (October 22).

The report concluded there were “inconsistencies” in the amount of information the boards were receiving to make key decisions.

The boards’ governance arrangements also did not specify how many people needed to be present to make decisions.

Additionally, the lack of a permanent project management office for the regeneration schemes has “resulted in officers not having any guidance from the council on how to run and manage projects.”

The auditors did acknowledge, however, that some of the boards’ practices had begun being standardised which would “provide greater oversight going forward”.

They also praised the “experience and knowledge” of the regeneration project managers.

How has the council responded?

The council has said that only minor “administrative amendments” were needed for the boards, rather than a more drastic overhaul.

A spokesman said: “None of the risks were considered significant by the audit team. They were administrative.

“The boards’ terms of reference have been updated. The programmes are already in progress and projects are already being delivered.

“We have robust financial procedures, as all councils are required to have by law.

“There is a dedicated financial specialist who monitors the programme spend and a budget report is taken to each board meeting. All three programmes are currently within budget.”

Why can’t the regeneration boards meet in public?

Under the current system, the boards meet in confidential session, with public updates being provided at the relevant area committee at least once every three months.

The council said it would not be feasible for the boards to meet in public going forward, since the majority of their decisions were of a commercially sensitive nature.

A spokesman said: “The decisions to undertake the programmes and support them financially were all taken during public meetings.

“The boards are operational meetings that discuss items such as procuring contractors to carry out various aspects of the work – for example, designing the public realm areas.

“These discussions are, of course, commercially sensitive so the boards are unable to meet publicly.

“Regular updates are given during public meetings, and we are in the process of setting up dedicated websites for the programmes, so the public will have a central hub for all the information.”