Council rapped in ‘missing materials’ probe
A probe into allegations road repair materials went missing from a council store found serious failings in procedures.
The internal investigation revealed there was a “high risk of misappropriation” due to the lack of controls at the site.
Renfrewshire Council auditors swooped on the unidentified depot when a claim came to light in March last year that materials had disappeared.
A £ 23,000 discrepancy in stock taking was also uncovered during the inquiry.
In March last, year stock held was valued at £18,645.58, while the value contained in the ledger was £-5,008.02.
Investigators interviewed staff and carr ied out observations of annual stock taking in a bid to get to the bottom of the alleged missing materials.
A damning report to Renfrewshire Council revealed that the auditors were unable to say for certain if material had been misappropriated, but called for an overhaul of procedures.
It notes: “Given the lack of controls in place for the storage and issue of materials, the auditor was unable to substantiate the allegation of misappropriations.
“The auditor found that there is a high risk of misappropriation due to the lack of controls around the storage and issue of materials in relation to road defects. Furthermore, the lack of regular reconciliation and checking of stock to the roads costing system and ledger have resulted in a long standing variance. A number of recommendations were proposed in the paper, including periodic stock checks by an independent person along with weekly tallies of stock values.
Renfrewshire Council says it has implemented a number of changes to tighten up its procedures.
A spokesman told the Paisley Daily Express: “An internal investigation was immediately conducted and found no evidence of any misappropriation.
“Key recommendations have been implemented to ensure sustainable and effective storage and stock control procedures are in place.
“Internal auditors will continue to monitor the implementation of these recommendations.”