Stormont officials ‘indifferent’ to saving public’s money: watchdog

STORMONT has been savaged over its spending by both a public watchdog and a Westminster committee chairman.

NI Affairs Committee chair Simon Hoare questioned if Stormont’s failure to set up an independent spending oversight body is down to a desire to hide corruption or incompetence.

Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Department of Finance (Dof ) displayed a culture of “indifference” to protecting public money.

It investigated the department’s handling of online services contracts with BT and concluded the telecoms giant may have made large profits at taxpayers’ expense.

Contract extensions meant that the Executive has increased its payments by over £120m, more than double the original contracted values, but that does not take into account the effect of inflation over two decades.

The department said additional sums paid to BT were for additional services and projects and all were individually assessed as being value for money.

The PAC said: “In the committee’s view, when it came to protecting public money, there was a culture of indifference.

“This was epitomised when the NI Audit Office queried significant overruns on the contract and were met with a ‘so what?’ response. It was evident to the committee that DOF staff involved with these contracts did not have the necessary commercial skills or experience to negotiate the best deal for citizens or to manage contracts.”

The PAC added: “It is very clear that BT ran rings round civil servants.”

The Dof said: “The department is committed to protecting the public purse and ensuring staff have the necessary commercial skills to manage contracts and negotiate the best deal for citizens.”

It added that the £120m figure cited by the PAC does not take account of the effect of inflation.

Yesterday at Westminster, Secretary of State Brandon Lewis expressed “huge frustration” that Finance Minister Conor Murphy had not moved to establish a Fiscal Council.

Mr Lewis said without a council, Mr Murphy was unable to prove his contention that he did not have enough money, despite receiving “pretty much a record uplift” in the Treasury’s recent spending review.

He said the Finance Minister could not back up “outlandish comments” with facts due to the absence of a council.

Stormont parties committed to establishing the council in the New Decade, New Approach deal to restore powersharing.

At yesterday’s committee hearing, Mr Hoare suggested the Treasury should withhold certain funds from the Executive until it was established.

He added: “What are they trying to hide? Is it incompetence, is it collusion, is it corruption, is it silly spending? Because unless they create it, they go into argue with the Treasury for extra funds with one hand tied behind their back.

“It is a self-defeating stance which they appear to have adopted.”

‘Itisvery clear BT ran rings round civil servants’