Guest blog by Tedric Turbot,
Barnet Council have a section 151 officer who is a highly paid consultant. His name is Andrew Travers. He is the man who has the responsibility for sorting out the mess in the purchasing process, exposed by the Barnet Council audit committee last night. Mr Travers stated last night that key processes in the purchasing process "Were being done, but we cannot rely on them always being done".
Here we have a look at his background and we ask whether he really is the man to sort the mess out.
Section 151 officer
Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires every local authority to make arrangements for the proper administration of their financial affairs and requires one officer to be nominated to take responsibility for the administration of those affairs. The Section 151 officer is usually the local authority’s treasurer and must be a qualified accountant belonging to one of the recognised chartered accountancy bodies. The Section 151 officer has a number of statutory duties, including the duty to report any unlawful financial activity involving the authority (past, present or proposed) or failure to set or keep to a balanced budget. The Section 151 officer also has a number of statutory powers in order to allow this role to be carried out, such as the right to insist that the local authority makes sufficient financial provision for the cost of internal audit.
Case law - In Attorney General -v- De Winton (1906). It was established
that the Treasurer is not merely a servant of the Council but holds a fiduciary
relationship to the local taxpayers;
Andrew Travers is a consultant who is the interim section 151 officer. He has been in post for almost a year and there is no sign of the Council looking to recruit to the post. He has set up a company called Halliford Associates and invoices his service in that name. Once the Council published all spend over £500 it was quickly picked up by the local press and residents and has been subject to comments ever since
Just a casual google search provided this
1. “Mayor 'misled public over cash scandal, 'Andrew Gilligan”
Andrew Travers, who led the review, told Assembly members: "The review has been conducted by a team of LDA staff supported by a team of internal auditors - the conclusions of the review are mine alone."
2. Olympic agency investigated over £100million 'black hole'
“Questions have also been raised as to why Andrew Travers, the LDA's risk and resources director, is overseeing the investigation into accounts he must have signed off.”
3. London Olympic land 'over budget'
The LDA's director of strategy Andrew Travers told London Assembly that he has called in accountants as he expects "figures will exceed the budget."
4. LDA to scrap £100m of work to make up for accounting failure
“The development agency has been forced to make the cuts because it failed to properly account for costs involved in relocating landowners of the Olympic park. According to the LDA’s internal report, it has already identified £45m-worth of savings, according to an internal report.
Andrew Travers, the LDA's group director for resources and performance, said the overspend "has major implications for the medium and long-term financial position of the agency".
6. LDA's Olympic funding hole raises serious questions
Just to say that if anyone wants to hear LDA chief financial officer Andrew Travers opening up at last about the gaping hole in its Olympic land budget you can do so here. http://www.estatesgazette.com/blogs/olympics/2009/07/ldas-olympic-funding-hole-raises-serious-questions.html
7. Lottery cash for Olympics not repaid until 2031
The controversial £675 million raid on the National Lottery to pay for the increased cost of the London 2012 Olympics could take until 2031 to be repaid in full, it emerged yesterday.
Andrew Travers, finance officer for the London Development Agency, told the London Assembly that while most of the extra Lottery cash would be clawed back from land sales at the Olympic Park 10 years after the Games, it could take another decade for the full amount to be realised
Fraud inquiry into £100m hole in London Development Agency’s Olympic accounts
The irregularity at the London Development Agency was probably a case of incompetence rather than deception, according to one informed observer. But questions remain as to why Andrew Travers, the agency’s risk and resources director, is overseeing an investigation into accounts he must have signed off.
An agency spokesman admitted that a review had identified some “additional spending commitments” but that the shortfall could be made up from savings elsewhere and would not require additional borrowing.
“We have identified ways of absorbing this without affecting core programmes,” he said.
The findings of the review are not expected to be made public despite the allegation of financial impropriety. The two suspended LDA employees were unavailable for comment and the agency refused to discuss personnel issues. KPMG declined to comment.
Gateway reviews
Audit Commission
Annual Audit Letter London Development Agency- Audit 2009/10
Background
1 Our last two Annual Audit letters reported failings in the Agency's arrangements which resulted last year with two recommendations made under section 11[3] of the Audit Commission Act 1998, that the Board should:
■ ensure the Agency's revised arrangements for monitoring and controlling the Olympics land budget are fit for purpose; and
■ ensure that the steps being taken to improve the Agency's finance function lead to improved financial reporting and that robust draft accounts and supporting papers are produced for 2009/10 in a timely manner.
Audit Letter full details click here
Annual Audit Letter London Development Agency
Audit 2008/09
Last year’s Annual Audit Letter identified a number of failings in the Agency’s arrangements for governance and performance management........ ...The two most significant issues that have arisen have been the projected significant overrun on the Olympic Land budget and the poor quality of the 2008/09 accounts presented for audit. These issues have led, once again, to a qualified value for money conclusion and a critical use of resources assessment.
KPMG’s review identified serious failings with the management and control of the
Olympics Land budget and estimated that the land acquisition and related costs would eventually exceed the budget provision by £159 million. In response the Agency took urgent action including:
· identifying additional resources to fund the budgetary shortfall identified;
· improving budgetary control arrangements in line with the report’s recommendations; and
· taking disciplinary action against the officers responsible for directly managing the Olympics spend.
http://www.lda.gov.uk/Documents/Public_Item_02_4_1_Appendix_1_Annual_Audit_Letter_08-09.pdf_4781.pdf
Annual Audit and Inspection Letter London Development Agency Audit 2007/08
Action needed by the Agency
5 The Agency now needs to:
• champion basic governance and performance management processes, including prioritising ongoing project assurance, producing fit for purpose accounts and embedding the improved arrangements for data quality and asset management;
• work with its partners and stakeholders to ensure that arrangements for sound governance and value for money are put in place for the Agency’s developing response to its Olympics legacy responsibilities;
• respond to falling land values in the context of the Agency’s ongoing financial standing and its future strategy for the repayment of debt;
• develop a range of performance measures to demonstrate cost-effectiveness and measure value for money; and
• maintain and enhance staff and external stakeholder support for its change agenda.
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Tedric Turbot works for Barnet Council. It is not his real name. The Barnet Eye is always happy to publish guest blogs
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