WALTHAM FOREST: Poor fund scandal action plan 'must be broadened' (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAM FOREST: Poor fund scandal action plan 'must be broadened'

8:30am Friday 20th February 2009 in

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THE scope of a review into how the council has responded to its long-term failure to manage money to help the poor must be broadened, the authority’s chief executive has warned.

Former interim chief executive Roger Taylor ordered an independent audit of progress being made to ensure proceedures were tightened after the authority was left reeling in the wake of the scandal.

However, current council boss Andrew Kilburn has warned ruling councillors that the current review must be extended to ensure its credibility.

In a report to Cabinet, which is due to be discussed on Tuesday (February 24), he said: “It is my view that this proposal, whilst well-intentioned, does not go far enough in providing the level of assurance needed.

“Members and external stakeholders do not only need to be satisfied that the council is taking action to put things right, they also need assurance that the necessary improvement in the standard of the council’s contracting has been achieved.”

“For this reason, I propose commissioning an independent audit with a far broader purpose than originally envisaged.

"The terms of reference for this work will be: to rigourously review all the council's arrangements for procurement and contract management and to make recommendations for any further improvements that may be required in the light of both the auditor's findings and best practice elsewhere."

Documents reveal a systemic failure within the council to correctly allocate, administer and monitor Neighbourhood Renewal Fund spending since 2004.

A police investigation is currently conducted into allegations that EduAction, the company which used to manage education in the borough, used NRF money to boost profits.

The Better Neighbourhood Initiative (BNI) was launched in an attempt to target NRF more effectively, but it later emerged that many BNI contracts, totalling millions of pounds, did not follow rules to prevent fraud.

A detailed audit is currently being carried out into all BNI projects between 2006-8.

The council says it has found no evidence of fraud.