Somerset Council is under intense fire after auditors revealed it spent more than £2.29 million of public money on a Glastonbury Town Deal project — without a delivery plan, without planning permission, and without checking where the money was going.

The Life Factory scheme has exploded into a full-blown scandal. Described as "staggering incompetence" by insiders, the project unravelled as officers handed out grant money based on unverified claims, failed to visit the site even once, and ignored glaring red flags.

A statutory recommendation has now been issued — the strongest legal warning auditors can give. A police investigation is under way. And the council faces a public reckoning when Full Council meets on Tuesday, 17 December.

£2.3m vanished without basic controls

According to a damning internal audit:

• The council signed off £2,295,512.50 in payments without ever seeing a costed delivery plan
• Major construction went ahead without planning permission
• Officers never visited the site, never checked what was built, and never brought in an independent surveyor
• Claims were approved despite missing paperwork, inaccurate figures and zero match funding
• A shell company, Beckery Construction, was allowed to run the job — without a formal contract

Despite all this, council officers gave "positive project assurance" to the Glastonbury Town Deal Board as late as September 2023. Four months later, the project was suspended. It was formally axed in November 2025.

Council shamed by auditors

External auditors Grant Thornton were blunt: Somerset Council failed in its most basic legal duties as the accountable body for Glastonbury's £23.6 million Town Deal. In response, they issued a statutory recommendation — a rare and serious sanction that forces the council to take public action.

Internal auditors SWAP were equally damning, laying bare years of mismanagement, diluted oversight, and ignored warnings. Key officers left during a crucial handover, no independent inspections were ever arranged, and risk reports were "overly optimistic".

Linked project also shut down

The council has now pulled the plug on a second Town Deal scheme — the Glastonbury Food and Regenerative Farming Centre — after discovering it was legally tied to Red Brick Building Centre Ltd, the same organisation behind the Life Factory. £115,715 is being reclaimed.

Timeline of failure

• 2020: £250k in Accelerator funds awarded
• 2022: Business case approved
• March 2023: Grant agreement signed
• April 2023: Somerset Council takes control
• September 2023: Council claims project is on track
• January 2024: Project paused
• May 2025: Internal audit published
• June 2025: Police investigation begins
• November 2025: Project formally cancelled

Sweeping changes promised — again

Officials are now promising a full overhaul. The council has pledged to:

• Require independent site inspections signed off by professionals
• Set up a new Capital Projects Assurance Board
• Enforce pre-grant due diligence and match funding conditions
• Introduce quarterly risk reviews and stop-payment clauses

Council Chief Executive Duncan Sharkey admitted serious failings: "We take the findings of the independent audit very seriously. We have already taken a wide range of actions, and we will continue to embed stronger controls."

What's next

• Full Council meets Tuesday, 17 December to accept or reject the auditors' legal demands
• Audit Committee reconvenes Monday, 22 December to review progress

What is a Statutory Recommendation?

A statutory recommendation is the most serious formal warning an auditor can issue to a local council. It is legally binding under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

Somerset Council must:

• Consider it in public at a Full Council meeting within one month
• Decide whether to accept it
• Publish its decision and planned actions

The recommendation must also be shared with the Secretary of State.

Timeline: The Life Factory collapse

• 2020: £250k in Accelerator funding awarded to kickstart Life Factory work
• June 2022: Full business case approved
• March 2023: Grant Funding Agreement signed
• April 2023: Somerset Council becomes accountable body
• September 2023: Council gives positive project assurance
• January 2024: Project paused amid growing concern
• May 2025: Internal audit reveals systemic failures
• June 2025: Police referral made
• November 2025: Project formally terminated
• December 2025: Council faces statutory recommendation and public reckoning

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