Just read this from the Audit report into the Metpro Scandal :-
Award of contract and review of contract service specification
No procurement exercise had been undertaken to appoint MetPro, in accordance with the Council’s CPR.
No written contract between the Council and MetPro could be found.
There is no record of an approval and authorisation for the use of MetPro for providing security services.
In the absence of a formal procurement exercise, we could not locate the following documents/confirmation for MetPro, which the CPR require:
· Financial viability of the company
· Equal Opportunities Assessment
· Criminal Records Bureau checks
· Confirmation of company’s Public Liability Insurance arrangements
· Confirmation of the company’s Health and Safety registration
· Confirmation on the SIA licence status of the Company Officers
· An agreed specification which outlined the service to be provided
· An agreed schedule of rates for payment of invoices
· A process for monitoring performance of service delivery to establish if the Council was receiving value for money
There has been a failure to comply with the Council’s Policies and Procedures with regards to roles and responsibilities. Officers interviewed had assumed a corporate contract was in place and relevant checks on MetPro had therefore been undertaken. Recently, from September 2010, assurance was given to officers we interviewed that a corporate contract was being procured by the CPT as they were aware at that time that no contract was in place with MetPro. At the time of writing this report this procurement exercise had not started, however a detailed specification existed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a catalog of failure. Nick Walkley as CEO and Andrew Harper as acting leader for the last six months have to carry the can. Do I need to tell them what an honourable management team would do?
And having read the report, it is clear that a full independent investigation of the way Barnet Council procures services is required. This council is rotten. It is not a political issue anymore, it is a full blown scandal. I call on all Tories, Labour and Lib Dem Councillors to read this and SORT THIS MESS OUT. The various bloggers of Barnet have uncovered this mess, pushed to have the truth exposed and now we know what the story is with Metpro, we need to see evidence that the whole way the council does business is being reformed. This will quite clearly save the council and you and I an absolute fortune.
4 comments:
It is clear what honourable people should do. But we are not dealing with honourable people. I thought you knew that Rog?
"Internal Audit cannot give assurance that this non-compliance is an
isolated incident, due to a lack of an accurate and complete centrally
held contracts register and effective monitoring arrangements."
Actually - if you want a greater scandal - read the papers for Agenda Item 7 - Internal Audit Annual Opinion (http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/documents/getdoc_ext.asp?DocID=92965). 72% of internal audit reports were rated as "limited" (viz - inadequate) or "no" (viz - not much better than loo paper) assurance in 2010-11.
Key extracts ...
"there is an absence of signed contracts and sound contract management generally across
the Council."
"There are responsibility and accountability issues within a number of services
who assume that internal controls are being carried out at a corporate level, which they are not."
From reading the report, it is clear that the devolution of various functions (in other words - outsourcing) is a mess. The Council cannot manage its own finances (key financial systems have only a "limited" audit status). You can see where the "One Barnet" project will lead us.
Oh dear Mr Walkley you have gone on holiday at the wrong time. Perhaps it was deliberate and you thought "I will let that nice Mr Travers pay himself £1,000 a day so he can earn it and I will keep my head down and he can have all of the flack" but then you are not here to defend your lack of basic systems, are you ? and the buck has to stop somewhere and at the very top is correct given the catalogue of disasters that you are presiding over.
Oh, and take your number two with you.
SAP - System for Arrogant Prats ?
Just £21m to you guv - will it work - trust me, have I ever I sold you a pup ? Woof
Post a Comment