Calls for a report uncovering an unauthorised £117,000 payment for unused temporary classrooms to go to full council has been rejected.
Members of the audit and scrutiny committee initiated an inquiry into project management systems for the refurbishment of Aberlour Primary nursery earlier this year.
The move came two temporary cabins costing £235,000 were bought to house children so work could be carried out.
However, the units will not be used for that purpose.
Elected members also had concerns they had not been kept in the loop with the proposals.
At a tense meeting of the audit a scrutiny committee this week, council leader Kathleen Robertson called for the report to go to full council.
She was backed by fellow Conservative administration group colleague Donald Gatt.
But chairman Graham Leadbitter, who is also co-leader of the SNP group, refused.
‘Sorry saga’
His reasons were that the move was not competent and it would undermine the remit of the audit and scrutiny committee.
However Conservative councillor Marc Macrae queried the decision. He said advice received the day before was the matter could be referred to full council.
Mr Gatt said he was “disappointed” with Mr Leadbitter’s decision.
He added: “I thought you would be up for proper scrutiny.”
Ms Robertson highlighted a previous audit on the early learning and childcare budget. It showed failings including a £2 million council overspend.
£117k unauthorised spend
She felt the report on the Aberlour project also showed a “lack of financial management within this service”. That, inturn, highlighted a “lack of financial controls resulting in an unauthorised spend on the temporary cabins.”
Mr Robertson added: “Further this unauthorised spend incurs a continued cost to the council which combined adds up to an additional £250,000.
“From the publishing of this report, there has been much comment about the role of elected members in the financial management of the service.
Scrutiny
“As stated in the report, the depute chief executive instructed the internal audit report on the back of elected members’ request.
“This has been the extent of elected members involvement in the financial management of the service.”
As elected members are the custodians of taxpayers’ money, there was a feeling the report should go before all 26 Moray councillors.
Mr Leadbitter said: “I understand why some councillors on this committee want to refer this to the full council.
“I think on balance there are other routes where it can be brought forward.
“One of them is discussion between the administration group and the corporate management team.”
He added bringing the report to full council before the deadline for the report’s recommendations to be put in place would not be the right thing to do.
Also, Mr Leadbitter felt it would add to full council’s “over burdening” agenda.
‘Over burdening’
Mr Gatt asked that the paper on the “sorry saga” be discussed in private, one reason being that councillors cannot criticise officers in public.
His request was not granted.
Chief executive Roddy Burns told the committee issues councillors had with staff should be brought to him.
The debate on Aberlour nursery project lasted for over an hour and included two adjournments.
Deputy chief executive covering education Denise Whitworth felt some comments had “cast aspersions” on the ability of officers to carry out their work.
Speyside Glenlivet councillor Derek Ross was widely praised for highlighting issues around the the Aberlour early years project.
While not a member of the committee, he was given special dispensation to speak.
He said: “I welcome the audit report and I hope we can learn from it.
Casting aspersions
“Nevertheless, there are still questions to be answered regarding the audit trail of documents and checks and balance should have been in place.
“There is no itemised mention of officer time and planning costs involved in this report and I am very concerned about the escalating costs of the project.”
Initially the project was to be £900,000, but that has now climbed to over £1 million.
The audit found an advanced payment of £117,430 was made for the cabins without the knowledge of the chief financial officer, breaking procedure.
In addition some of the documents sought by investigators could not be found.
It recommends the temporary cabins, currently stored at a site in Kintore at a cost of £90 a week, be disposed of as a matter of urgency.
Officers responsible for buying goods and services will be reminded of the council’s financial and procurement regulations.
They will also be advised that advanced payments need to be cleared by the chief financial officer.
Cabins should be disposed of as a matter of urgency
A further report on the investigation into the project will be brought back before councillors after the deadline for meeting recommendations is reached.
Work has yet to fully start on the project. But the amount spent so far is around £340,000.
That includes replacement doors bought to comply with building regulations costing £14,000.
A further £2,000 was spent having them delivered to a council depot in Keith.
Major refurbishment of the nursery accommodation was supposed to begin in in August 2020.
But because of the pandemic, that was rescheduled to start before the end of 2021.
One of the temporary units was to be sited in the grounds of Aberlour Primary and the other at nearby Speyside High School.
However, safety concerns were raised over the proposed locations.
£235k spent on unused nursery cabins
Consideration was then given to setting up a temporary outdoor nursery in a park next to the cemetery in Aberlour.
But that was not thought suitable.
It had been thought the work could be carried out during school holidays.
However officers are now considering whether to buy yurts to accommodate the children.
They could be sited in the grounds of the primary school for the duration of the work.
The Aberlour nursery upgrade is the last part of the council’s £55 million expansion of the early years service to be completed.
It is to provide 1,140 hours of childcare for three to five year olds and eligible two year olds.
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