Bournemouth Liberal Democrats
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Bournemouth Council's Attempts to Prop-up Failing Firms may have been Unlawful
October 2, 2012 12:26 PM
By Michael Chizlett
By Michael Chizlett
Bournemouth Borough Council has been criticised for using taxpayer money to prop-up troubled contractors without informing councillors.
In 2009 Quadron Property Services (QPSL) - which maintained the borough's 5,100 council homes - went into administration. Bournemouth council handed the work to another company Kinetics Group without putting the contract out to tender.
When Kinetics also ran into financial trouble and their suppliers became unwilling to provide it with goods the council stepped in to settle the company's accounts and pay for the materials.
The change was not reported to the council's cabinet but to the council leader Peter Charon alone.
A total of £697,487 was eventually paid to Kinetics' suppliers and contractors before the firm went into administration.
Adrian Fudge, a former Lib Dem deputy leader of the council, complained to the District Auditor over the episode.
The District Auditor Simon Garlick said the arrangement with Kinetics "continued for over 18 months, well beyond what in my view could reasonably be described as a temporary measure and inconsistent with the advice given by legal officers of the council".
He said the arrangement amounted to a new contract which should have been put out to tender. Failure to do so "could give rise to potentially unlawful expenditure".
Mr Fudge said the episode showed there was a "lack of control" over council contracts.
"There's virtually no scrutiny, no reporting to members and therefore the potential for things to go wrong in major contracts must just be enormous," he said.
He added: "What's the point in having 54 members of Bournemouth council if nobody's going to be aware of what's going on and make sure everything's properly monitored on behalf of the council taxpayer?"
The Authority has often been criticised for failing to inform local councillors of it's decisions e.g when a traveller site was proposed near Kinson North; and when it omitted a damning auditing report on executive renumeration from councillor bundles - instead putting it online. Or working around councillors e.g when it added an option to a report by councillors which considered how to improve the Boscombe Surf Reef . Or refusing to release vital information on council work to councillors e.g Mouchel's performance targets. The list goes on.