Cabinet member was director of firm that got council cash
THE National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has been asked to investigate payments of nearly £270,000 made by a council to a company which has one of its own council cabinet members as a director.
Bridgend council said it could find no record of how Green Renewable Wales (GRW) came to be involved in managing home insulation work that resulted in the company being paid £269,431 in 2013.
A spokesman for the authority said: “It’s been difficult to confirm as staff who would have been in place at the time have moved on, but it appears that GRW was sub-contracted by another contractor.
“As far as I have been able to find out, we don’t hold any information on it as we would not have had any influence or involvement with the procurement process.”
One of GRW’s directors is Labour councillor Phil White, the council’s cabinet member for social services. GRW has since gone into liquidation.
Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Jenkins said: “I think the time has come to call on the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee to consider this issue. What this would do is rigorously ensure that public money was spent in the most ef- fective manner it could be. The public will be anxious to ensure that checks and measures were in place so that the senior councillor who has an interest in this business was no way involved in the council’s decision to provide funding to it.
“I’d also like to understand better the relationship of the businesses involved, because it seems rather complicated for what appears to be a straightforward provision of a service. I will raise this matter with the chair of the committee.”
Mr White said: “The grant money spent was from an underspend of the Welsh Government Arbed programme in January to April 2013. GRW was already engaged by Walesco, a private company which had accessed the community energy savings programme (Cesp) and the energy company obligation (Eco) from the major utilities National Power and EDF to carry out energy efficiency work on properties in some of the more deprived areas of the UK and Wales.
“This work had been going on for some time from 2012 and one area was Caerau, near Maesteg [the ward Mr White represents]. Previously we were engaged by Walesco on similar work in Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf, where over 400 properties had energy efficiency works.
“Bridgend council of- ficers at the time had contacted my colleague and fellow director David Edge about using the underspend they had for that year in Caerau, but it had to be matched with funding from Cesp or Eco.
“Walesco was approached to see if they would be prepared to undertake this additional funding with the proviso that it needed match funding. This was agreed and the additional grant money was allocated to the ongoing and existing scheme that was running in Caerau by Walesco,” Mr White said.
“Walesco engaged GRW to appoint local sub-contractors to carry out the additional works on top of the work already being carried out in Caerau on their behalf. This we duly did and the grant money was paid to GRW to then pass on to the local subcontractors for works carried out. At no time and on no occasion did GRW tender or influence that grant money from Bridgend council and neither did I use my position to influence any decisions made by Bridgend council officers at the time.
“All grant money was accounted for as the measures had to be completed before the end of the financial year,” he said.
“I can honestly say that the grant money from the Welsh Government was spent in the most effective manner and that was to improve the health and well-being of the residents of Caerau which is one of the most deprived wards in Wales.”