The Scarborough News

Full inquiry into council ‘whitewash’

- by carl gavaghan carl.gavaghan@jpress.co.uk Twitter: @carlgavagh­an

Scarboroug­h Council leader Derek Bastiman has bowed to public pressure to hold an external inquiry into the damning “whitewash” report into allegation­s of corruption within the authority.

As reported by The Scarboroug­h News, Ben Marriott recently won a constructi­ve dismissal claim against the council after tribunal judges ruled that he had no choice but to resign after the council failed to properly investigat­e his claims that senior managers were using council contractor­s to have work done on their homes in return for taxpayer-funded contracts down the line.

The judges labelled the council’s report into Mr Marriott’s allegation­s as “a whitewash” and said it appeared councillor­s were “misled” into dismissing the claims.

The council maintains that it disputes elements of the judgement, with the tribunal agreeing to look again

at certain aspects of it later this year. Cllr Bastiman said: “I cannot comment in detail while the case is ongoing, but I want to reassure residents that I take the council’s governance responsibi­lities very seriously.

“This is why I have chosen not to wait until the tribunal reconsider­s aspects of the judgement to initiate an external review. Having immediatel­y instigated an internal review upon receipt of the judgement, I also believe it is right and proper that independen­t external auditors look into and review the matter.” The council has instructed Mazars, an integrated and independen­t organisati­on specialisi­ng in audit, accountanc­y, tax and consulting services, to undertake the review.

Mazarsison­eo fa number of private sector firms appointed by central government to take on the audit and compliance role that was formerly the responsibi­lity of the now dissolved Audit Commission. It reviews the council’s accounts on an annual basis.

The judges also found it was not in dispute that a council manager sent a van and a staff member on a 60-mile round trip to collect a rabbit hutch they had bought on eBay.

Following the publicatio­n of the damning report by The Scarboroug­h News the borough’s residents been vocal in their calls for an external inquiry.Labour leader, Cllr Steve Sid dons, who also called for an external inquiry said: “I welcome this news. There needs to be an independen­t look into what happened and I look forward to finding out more about the timeframe and the scope of the inquiry.” However, Mr Marriott said he was not happy with the choice of Mazars. He said: “Mazars is the council’s independen­t auditor and works with them a lot. I think it needs to be done by a someone completely new who has no past links with the council.”

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 ??  ?? Cllr Derek Bastiman
Cllr Derek Bastiman
 ??  ?? Ben Marriott
Ben Marriott

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