Top Reading councillor Cllr Adele Barnett-Ward has defended herself after being accused of a conflict of interest over the re-installation of the Cartwheeling Boys sculpture.
The sculpture, a gift from Reading's twin town Düsseldorf in 1981, was damaged in Storm Eunice in February 2022 and has now been installed at the council offices in Bridge Street.
The Affable Design Company, run by Edmund and Adele Barnett-Ward, was paid three times by the council in 2024-25, totalling £10,644 - prompting the conflict claim because Adele Barnett-Ward is the lead councillor for leisure and culture.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she had no role in the work and declared her interest. "I know it didn’t come through me. I did flag that I had an interest and removed myself from it, so it’s all above board."
She says she doesn’t work on the company, didn’t instruct Affable, didn’t receive updates and didn’t take reports into her briefings; the interest is on her register.
The council confirmed she had no involvement, saying officers handled procurement, Affable was the only supplier able to meet the brief, the work's value was validated for best value, and all payments were within the agreed single contract.
Cllr Barnett-Ward is standing to keep her Thames seat for Labour in the council elections on Thursday 7 May. The seat is also contested by Christopher Burden (Liberal Democrats), David Clark (Green), James Halls (Social Democratic Party), Alexander Kelly (Reform UK) and Jaykumar Sanatbhai (Conservative).
The LDRS has approached each party standing in the Thames ward for comment.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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