Cornwall Council probes secret payout to former spaceport councillor

Cornwall Council has raised concerns over a confidential settlement between Corserv/Cornwall Airport Ltd and former councillor Louis Gardner. Gardner, who stepped down after just a week as head of Spaceport Cornwall, had previously approved a £200,000 council grant to the project while holding a senior economic portfolio, a move later found to breach the council's code of conduct on five points. The council later withdrew the funding, and Gardner resigned as a councillor on the day of the May 1, 2025 elections.

Monitoring officer Paul Grant disclosed that a secret agreement was signed to facilitate Gardner's swift exit and to protect the company from potential employment tribunal claims. He said, “A payment was made as part of the agreement… the details of this payment… are confidential between LG and Corserv/CAL.” Grant suggested that the council should investigate the settlement and the transparency of exit payments exceeding £100,000.