Council to appoint law firm for independent investigation into housing maintenance service
An independent investigation is set to take place into Guildford Borough Council’s housing maintenance service after a report identifying “a number of serious areas of concern that require further investigation”, the council has said.
It shares a chief executive and other senior staff with neighbouring Waverley, but the latter said the problem with housing affected only Guildford.
New joint chief executive Pedro Wrobel has started work this week - earlier than expected - to oversee the process.
An external law firm will be appointed to carry out the investigation and will look into whether correct governance processes were followed in the letting and management of housing maintenance contracts.
Guildford and Waverley’s shared strategic directors for community and wellbeing, Annie Righton, and transformation and governance, Ian Doyle “have both agreed to step back on a temporary basis from their respective roles to protect the integrity of the investigation”, a joint statement by Guildford leader Julia McShane and Waverley leader Paul Follows said.
They explained: “Public bodies need to be absolutely resolute in their commitment to openness, transparency and accountability for public money. We are determined to identify exactly what has happened in order to safeguard both councils and continue to deliver on our commitment to best value and service delivery possible for all our residents and businesses.”
Mr Wrobel said: “When it comes to public money, nothing is more important than propriety and value.”
He added: “I will be working with officers, councillors, external investigators and auditors to get to the bottom of these issues and account for every penny.”
An update on the housing maintenance contracts issued last November said an investigation had made initial enquiries “into suggestions there may have been fraudulent activity with the council in respect of the relationship with one particular contractor”. The police had been informed of these concerns.
The two councils said then it was likely there were some non-compliance issues within the housing service, “which have led to a lack of governance around contract management, people management and financial controls” and this would be dealt with through a governance review.
Mark Smulian
