Bournemouth Liberal Democrats
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Buried Report Casts Council Pay System into Disrepute
July 20, 2012 2:01 PM
The report prepared in July 2010 found a number of glaring problems with the way council staff were being paid. The report states that there are only two types of staff, those employed via the ordinary payroll system and those appointed as a consultant in accordance with EU tendering rules.
However the report found that there was "a fundamental lack of control, which exposes the council to major risk". In one case an executive director was being paid both as a council employee and as a consultant at the same time. In another a sheltered housing manager was paid more than £150,000 through his own company, despite the fact his contract appeared to expire on March 31, 2008. And in the final example, an interim senior accountant was paid by invoice but had tax and national insurance deducted by the council because his details were on the payroll system.
More importantly however is that the audit report was not included in councillors' papers opening the council to questions of openess, transparency and democratic accountability. Lib Dem Cllr Roger West said "I think it's scandalous that this report has been hidden from elected members since, it would appear, July 2010. This is not the open and democratic society that I thought we were all striving to attain. What's even more important is that this report shows the council has been placed at high risk."
Liz Wilkinson, the council's executive director for finance said that "Whilst it is reasonable to expect an organisation the size of the council to use consultants for specialist support on rare occasions for short to medium term projects, it is vital that effective governance is in place regarding the procurement and terms of engagement of such support."