SIX council officers suspended on full pay in a row over demolition contracts have been paid almost £185,000 to stay off work.
Figures obtained by The Sentinel reveal the sum of £183,858 has been shared between the workers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council's regeneration directorate since their suspensions in September.
The authority has set no date for when the payments could be stopped. And it says it has no rules requiring a decision to be made within a set time.
Three men are currently on police bail after being arrested as part of a police inquiry into alleged corrupt tendering practices.
It is understood the council has delayed its action to prevent intrusion on the criminal investigation.
It is not known whether any of the arrested trio are among the six suspended.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello raised concerns about the authority's contract systems in 2009 after being approached by local businesses.
He said: "I'm very concerned that at a time when the city is in need of every penny, we find there is a huge wage bill being run up for people who are suspended from work.
"I'm also concerned it has taken a very long time to deal with matters.
"I'll be asking questions of whether any unnecessary delays have been caused by the police and, if so, whether they will be reimbursing the council."
It has also emerged that former councillor Brian Ward, former cabinet member for regeneration, was kept in the dark about the reasons for suspension and was not told whether the staff would be paid while off work.
He said: "Part of it is understandable, because the confidentiality was important at that early stage.
"Some complex investigations take a long time and I don't think the public will decry that.
"But they will want some indication of how long this is going to take."
The council's tendering practices were put under the spotlight in 2009 when it awarded a £1.1 million contract for the demolition of the former Westcliffe Hospital, in Chell, despite the bid being three times higher than competitors.It eventually re-awarded the contract at £341,000.
Former councillor Alan Rigby raised concerns at the time.
He said: "It's disgusting that it has gone on for this long and cost the council this much money. I'm looking forward to the outcome."
A separate internal inquiry into the Westcliffe deal found procedures had not been properly followed and staff failed to spot the wide variation between the highest and lowest bids.
At the time the council pledged to retrain staff, but said there was no evidence of corruption.
Government watchdog the Audit Commission has also called for improvements in the way the council awards contracts.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said its investigation was continuing.
Figures obtained by The Sentinel reveal the sum of £183,858 has been shared between the workers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council's regeneration directorate since their suspensions in September.
-
Concerns: Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello
Three men are currently on police bail after being arrested as part of a police inquiry into alleged corrupt tendering practices.
It is understood the council has delayed its action to prevent intrusion on the criminal investigation.
It is not known whether any of the arrested trio are among the six suspended.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello raised concerns about the authority's contract systems in 2009 after being approached by local businesses.
He said: "I'm very concerned that at a time when the city is in need of every penny, we find there is a huge wage bill being run up for people who are suspended from work.
"I'm also concerned it has taken a very long time to deal with matters.
"I'll be asking questions of whether any unnecessary delays have been caused by the police and, if so, whether they will be reimbursing the council."
It has also emerged that former councillor Brian Ward, former cabinet member for regeneration, was kept in the dark about the reasons for suspension and was not told whether the staff would be paid while off work.
He said: "Part of it is understandable, because the confidentiality was important at that early stage.
"Some complex investigations take a long time and I don't think the public will decry that.
"But they will want some indication of how long this is going to take."
The council's tendering practices were put under the spotlight in 2009 when it awarded a £1.1 million contract for the demolition of the former Westcliffe Hospital, in Chell, despite the bid being three times higher than competitors.It eventually re-awarded the contract at £341,000.
Former councillor Alan Rigby raised concerns at the time.
He said: "It's disgusting that it has gone on for this long and cost the council this much money. I'm looking forward to the outcome."
A separate internal inquiry into the Westcliffe deal found procedures had not been properly followed and staff failed to spot the wide variation between the highest and lowest bids.
At the time the council pledged to retrain staff, but said there was no evidence of corruption.
Government watchdog the Audit Commission has also called for improvements in the way the council awards contracts.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said its investigation was continuing.
No comments:
Post a Comment