THE chief executive of Cornwall Council needs to answer “serious questions” over a scandal which has engulfed the authority in recent months. That’s the opinion of North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire, who has made a formal complaint to the council about the controversial appointment of former councillor Louis Gardner to the £70,000 role of head of future air and space at Spaceport Cornwall.
It was revealed on Tuesday, May 13 that Mr Gardner, who was the Conservative Cabinet member for the economy when he got the job, is no longer in the role. The Spaceport, based at Newquay airport, is run by council-owned company Corserv. The company has not said whether Mr Gardner resigned or was sacked.
Mr Gardner’s appointment came just days after he participated in a meeting to approve £200,001 of public funding for the Spaceport project. No interest was declared during that meeting. The matter is also currently under police investigation following a report of misconduct in public office.
After announcing he had got the head of future air and space job in March, Mr Gardner resigned his Cabinet role and stepped down as a councillor at the May 1 council election.
Mr Maguire, the Lib Dem MP for North Cornwall, wrote to Cornwall Council’s monitoring officer – its head solicitor – Paul Grant to make a formal complaint about Mr Gardner’s appointment before it was announced he had left the Spaceport’s employment.
“As I understand, Corserv is an arms-length company of the council, the council is the sole shareholder, and the chief executive of the council – Kate Kennally – is the shareholder representative,” wrote Mr Maguire. “As such, I hope that you would agree that senior appointments within Corserv – which is funded solely through the public purse to deliver public services – should be held to the same standards as any public appointment, and that the use of arms-length companies by local authorities should not be a method for avoiding adherence to the Nolan principles of public life.
“In the first instance I have written to Kate Kennally with my concerns and had a reply from the CEO of Corserv. My letter clearly highlights the areas where I believe the appointment breaches the Nolan principles. I do not feel that their response has in any way addressed the issues I raised and since this exchange of letters other information has come to light, which has deepened my concerns.”
Mr Maguire’s letter continues: “They stated in their response that Cllr Gardner ‘did not participate in any decision-making to keep this post open’. However, they also stated that ‘it is the council’s and Corserv’s shared long-term vision that the position remains relevant’. As Cllr Gardner was at the time the relevant Cabinet member of the council, I do not see how these two statements can be true at the same time. He has been deeply involved along with senior officers in the council on a project to find a long-term funding solution for the airport/Spaceport and, as Cabinet member, he personally signed off £200,000 of Shared Prosperity Funds to the project days before accepting the appointment.”
As the controversy grew, the £200,000 of funding – or £200,001 to be exact – for the Spaceport was later withdrawn by the council.
The MP added that Ms Kennally and Corserv’s CEO Neil Edmond stated that the recruitment process was based on merit, but Mr Maguire had been sent the “very impressive” CV of one of the 27 applicants that applied for the role in July 2024. The job was later offered to Mr Gardner after none of the original applicants were deemed suitable.
“They have 30 years’ experience in aviation and maritime, have three separate degrees in management and engineering, and real-world experience in delivery and transformational change for major projects. This was the first job application they’ve made when they did not make the shortlist,” added the MP.
He quoted the applicant as saying: “I could provide demonstrable evidence against the role profile breakdown and was confident of an interview. I was truly amazed I didn’t even get any form of interview and only an email after nine weeks of silence.”
Mr Maguire said: “Given that they were not even shortlisted, and given the breadth and depth of their experience, it stretches credulity that none of the applicants would have warranted an offer to interview when they chose later in October to consider Cllr Gardner from a field of one.”
Responding to statements that the Spaceport role was publicly advertised, Mr Maguire added: “It surely would have been in the public interest to re-advertise again when it became clear that only Cllr Gardner with his obvious inside knowledge of the proceedings became the only applicant under consideration.”
His letter concluded that the whole matter warranted further investigation by the monitoring officer.
Since the news that Mr Gardner has left the Spaceport, the MP added: “This should never have happened. That appointment failed the basic tests of transparency, fairness and public trust. Anyone could see it and I’ve been pushing for answers from the very start.
“While this outcome is obviously very welcome, serious questions remain about how the process was ever allowed to happen. I’ll continue to press the council’s leadership and the Commissioner for Public Appointments until we get full accountability, and I will be meeting with the monitoring officer and chief executive Kate Kennally in the coming days to discuss this serious matter further.”