A debt-ridden council received only four applications when hiring for an independent person to help oversee its finances.

Eastleigh Borough Council actively sought one person to join the Audit and Resources Committee.

The council – which is under financial pressure – needed someone to provide a review of the council’s governance, risk management, control frameworks, and financial reporting processes.

Two months since applications opened and only four applications received, an independent member has been appointed.

According to the agenda for the council’s meeting on July 15, the member is Stefan Hargrave.

Mr Hargrave lives in West End and works as a director of internal audit for Triodos Bank.

He is a chartered member of the Institute of Internal Auditors in England and Wales and has spent 20 years working in Financial Services internationally, the document states.

He is also an independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee of St John International and Chair of the Triodos Foundation charity.

Although independent to the council, Mr Hargrave will be paid an annual retainer of £600 per year and an allowance of £100 per meeting he attends.

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The amount he is paid should not exceed £3,000 per year and is included in the budget.

In the position for two years, Mr Hargrave must ‘take independent, unbiased and objective views’.

The appointment comes after the council was slammed for its poor finances.

In a visit to Eastleigh in January of this year, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the council’s £350m debt was “excessive”.

Fraud allegations were also made by external auditors who examined the council’s One Horton Heath Project, where “significant weaknesses” were found.

Their 10,000-word report says they were "unable to determine" that no fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations had taken place.