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Council guilty of bogus report
SCARBOROUGH Council wrote a bogus report and broke the law over contracts for its sea defence scheme, a shocking new report reveals today.
The Audit Commission has said the council failed to put contracts out to tender, which is against the law, and ignored concerns of its legal staff and external lawyers.
The Commission's report says the Government could now decide to withdraw part of its funding for the scheme.
This could mean taxpayers having to foot a 3.1 million bill for preliminary work on the Marine Drive project by the council's consultants, plus fees.
The council gave the work to its favoured consultants High Point Rendel – and an officer compiled a bogus report to justify the awarding of the contract.
High Point Rendel has now doubled its charges from 1.2 million to 2.4 million.
Senior Scarborough Council members today said they are planning an internal investigation.
Scarborough Council has said people "should not assume" that tax payers will have to foot the bill.
Its group leaders are likely to recommend a full investigation be carried out during a meeting of the cabinet later this month.
The auditor's report states: "In relation to several coastal protection schemes there is a compelling case for bringing to the attention of the public what I consider to be significant shortcomings in the way the council managed the projects and failed to fully protect the interests of local and national taxpayers.
"In my view the adequacy of the appointment process, the specification and the terms agreed with High Point Rendel were not sufficiently robust.
"A bogus 'best value evaluation' exercise was prepared by an officer to justify the award of work to High Point Rendel. Procurement regulations were not complied with and in my opinion the appointment was unfair and unlawful.
"The terms and conditions of the Government grant have not been met and there is a risk of the council now having to finance the advice and supervision costs.
"The failure to enter into a lawful and fair contractual relationship with High Point Rendel has exposed the council to the unnecessary risk of financial loss and poor value for money."
Other schemes awarded to the company and which have been found to have broken procedure are Holbeck to Scalby Mills strategy, Robin Hood's Bay and the Haggerlythe, and Staithes Harbour.
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
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Wind direction: South
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