Auditors find failure to follow procurement rules but no evidence of criminal activity in appointment by council of contractor for diversity programme

Internal auditors have concluded that non-compliance with procurement rules occurred at Bristol City Council when it appointed a contractor to deliver a diversity programme called Stepping Up, but that no criminal activity took place.

An earlier audit by Grant Thornton said then deputy mayor Asher Craig was a director of a company that delivered part of the contract but had not declared this. Some £637,596 was spent by the council in all to three contractors.

Grant Thornton said: “The council did not follow its contract procurement procedures when it engaged Smart People Solutions to deliver part of the programme.” This was one of the contractors used.

The report continued: “The deputy mayor is a director of [another contractor] Stepping Up Leadership CIC and declared this interest with the council in 2021 but did not declare the interests in 2020 when first appointed.

“As part of our review, we identified that the deputy mayor used two different names as a councillor and as a company director. Whilst we understand that it is not uncommon for elected members to use a given name instead of their legal name, the council should be aware that this can create the perception that the arrangements are not open and transparent and should consider how such situations are appropriately managed.”

Following a confidential briefing to the audit committee in April, committee chair Rob Logan told its May meeting: “In the briefing the committee were advised that an investigation had been conducted by Internal Audit which concluded that based on their tests no evidence of criminal activity was identified.

"However there had been non-compliance with internal procurement procedures in the earlier years and there were weaknesses in the management of the Stepping Up contract.”

He said these findings aligned with those of Grant Thornton as external auditor, and some recommendations had been made concerning compliance with internal procurement rules, formalisation of contract management arrangements and referral to the monitoring officer when there was a potential conflict of interest.

Cllr Logan said: “The monitoring officer confirmed that he was satisfied that there were no issues of concern relating to any potential conflict of interest.

“The monitoring officer also confirmed that Stepping Up has been considered by external auditors and there are no outstanding issues to be addressed.”

He said the matter was considered closed “unless new significant information comes to light”.

Mark Smulian