| Title:
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REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF SUSPECTED CONTRACT FRAUD
TOGETHER WITH THE MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE RELATING TO THE REPORT AND THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE FIRST REPORT SESSION 2009/2010 |
| By: |
Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Assembly: Public Accounts Committee |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| List price:
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£14.00 |
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| ISBN 10: |
0339602872 |
| ISBN 13: |
9780339602878 |
| Publisher: |
STATIONERY OFFICE, BELFAST |
| Pub. date: |
10 September, 2009 |
| Series: |
Northern Ireland Assembly Reports Session 2009-2010, 01/09/10R |
| Pages: |
120 |
| Synopsis: |
This report finds poor value for money, conflict of interest and evidence of favouritism towards certain contractors involved in building work for the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB). The Board failed to recognise the extent to which it was vulnerable to fraud and responded too slowly as evidence of malpractice accumulated over several years. The Committee found extensive evidence of a long-standing culture within BELB's Property Services Unit that favoured certain contractors and had no regard for proper procurement procedures. In one case, a BELB maintenance officer was involved in the award of GBP 64,000 worth of maintenance work to his uncle's firm. Despite this being known by the employee's supervisor and senior management, the Board's own instructions on dealing with conflicts of interest were ignored. The BELB also paid GBP 80,000 to contractors for disability access work in two libraries which was not carried out, and paid GBP 110,000 for work in 14 other libraries which was either not completed or not carried out to the required standard.Following an independent review commissioned by the Department of Education into school maintenance procurement, three officers faced disciplinary charges. The Department's expert in disciplinary matters concluded that the relationship of two of these officers with a contractor represented gross misconduct; this was later downgraded to misconduct, and warnings remained on their records for only a year. In the Committee's view, the duration of these disciplinary measures did not reflect the seriousness of the offences. |
| Publication: |
UK |
| Imprint: |
Stationery Office, Belfast |
| Returns: |
Non-returnable |