Cornwall Council has withdrawn £200,000 government funding to the Spaceport at Newquay airport following a political controversy. The local authority has withdrawn the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) amount and says no payment will now be made to the space industry hub, which is run by the council-owned Corserv company.

The decision has come after it was revealed that the council’s then cabinet member for the economy Cllr Louis Gardner, who oversaw SPF allocation as part of his portfolio, was actually in the process of getting a top job at the Spaceport when he was part of an Economic Prosperity Board meeting on February 27. He was among members who agreed to give the space hub the £200,000 levelling up money. He didn’t declare an interest during the meeting.

Days later it was announced he had got the £70,000 head of future air and space role, which sees him controlling a budget which would have included the £200,001 fund previously agreed by him and other Economic Prosperity Board members. On accepting the Spaceport role he stood down from his position as the local authority’s Conservative cabinet member for the economy and will retire as a Newquay councillor on Cornwall Council at the election tomorrow (Thursday, May 1).

A Freedom of Information Act (FOI) response from the council on April 28 has revealed that the unitary authority has now withdrawn the £200,000. It states: “Following the usual due diligence process, the funding has been withdrawn and no payment will be made in relation to the application.”

A council spokesperson verified that the Spaceport will no longer receive the money. He said: “Before any Shared Prosperity Funding is issued, each application undergoes due diligence to ensure the application provides the best value for money for the taxpayer. In this case, the bid was assessed as not meeting those criteria and will now not proceed.”

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, said earlier this month: “Was this clear conflict of interest declared at the time – and were there really no eyebrows raised when Cllr Gardner, days before securing a £70,000 job at the Spaceport, was a key part of the decision-making process to approve its funding?

“I’ll now be escalating this matter to the Commissioner for Public Appointments and engaging directly with Cornwall Council’s monitoring officer to ensure this potentially serious breach of standards is investigated to the fullest extent.”

The issue dominated April 15’s last full council meeting before the election, which was not attended by Cllr Gardner. Incensed councillors ignored their own monitoring officer’s warning and hammered Cornwall Council’s leadership with a barrage of difficult and awkward questions concerning the growing controversy.

Before the meeting even started there was no escaping what many are calling a “scandal” when Tory rebels Cllr Steve Arthur (Perranporth) and Cllr John Conway (Launceston South) arrived wearing NASA spacesuits, much to the amusement of many of their colleagues. The councillors, who resigned from the Conservative group to start an independent non-aligned group, said they had pulled the stunt to highlight the issue.

Cllr Arthur said: “It’s either complicity or complacency and both aren’t great ideals to have in public office. Heads have got to roll. There are good people in this chamber from across the county and we’re all getting tarred with the same brush.”