FIFE COUNCIL will not take any steps to recover any part of the £150,000 in grant funding awarded to the Alhambra Theatre Trust, it's been confirmed.

In May 2014, the Press reported that the Alhambra had secured £150,000 in funding after being awarded £75,000 each from Fife Council's Recurring Grants Scheme and the City of Dunfermline area committee's town centre budget.

A monitoring visit undertaken by the council in December 2014 highlighted concerns over the use of the funding to meet agreed activities but officers were satisfied no further steps were required following another visit in February 2015.

At a public Q&A at the City of Dunfermline area committee last week, Jim Stewart, chair of Central Dunfermline Community Council, asked what steps had been taken since February 2015 to recover the “residual part of the grant”.

He queried: “What additional steps have been taken since February 2015 to account for the above public funding and that all the terms, service levels and deliverables have now been fulfilled?

“It would appear that the funding was provided in full, in advance of any activities being delivered, and without diligence nor guarantee.

“Can it be confirmed that this was in fact the case, and that current funding process does not allow for milestone payments based on project deliverables measured from governance visits?

“What is to stop (this or) future grant funding being unused and simply retained by the recipient?”

Council officers responded: “At the monitoring visit in February 2015, evidence was provided that all posts that were part of the original agreement has been recruited to, either as newly-established posts or due to that fact previous funding had come to an end and the posts would otherwise have been made redundant.

“Evidence was also provided in relation to the outcomes in relation to the summer and stage school, including numbers attending and the enhanced marketing undertaken. No steps have therefore been taken to recover the grant.

“Council officers considered that there was no need to carry out additional steps as all activities had been started at the point of the February 2015 visit.

“The funding was paid in two instalments. An initial instalment following approval of the awards and the final payment following the February 2015 visit when evidence of progress was provided.

“The council has a monitoring and evaluation framework which sets out the requirements for ‘Following the Public Pound’.

“This sets out levels at which funding is awarded and the monitoring that is required. This includes checks undertaken in advance of awarding funding, the submission of annual accounts, development of service level agreements etc as required for the type and level of grant awarded.”

When contacted, the Alhambra Theatre Trust commented: “The responses provided by Fife Council to the complainants Mr Jim Stewart and Central Dunfermline Community Council last week are quite clear that the terms of the service level agreement for the 2014 grant were fully met by the theatre.”

Public spending watchdog Audit Scotland confirmed that correspondence had been received on the funding issue.

An Audit Scotland spokeswoman said: “Members of the public are encouraged to raise issues of concern with Audit Scotland on spending and governance by public bodies and we use this correspondence to inform our impartial and evidence-based audit work.

“We are aware of the concerns regarding Fife Council’s funding of ALEOs (Arm's-Length External Organisations), and have confirmed that we will consider these matters, and whether appropriate controls are in place, as part of the 2015/16 audit of the council.”