25 November 2009
Waltham Forest Council has today published the report of the Independent Panel into the authority’s failure to deliver government funded projects.
The report points to failures in the Council’s ability to procure and manage contracts and finds "systemic and cultural issues” have led to repeated failures in the way in which the Council procured and managed community projects.
The panel was appointed by Council Chief Executive Andrew Kilburn after the Council carried out a number of audit investigations which uncovered serious breaches in the council’s contract rules.
Chaired by Sir Peter Rogers, Chief Executive of the London Development Agency and former Chief Executive of Westminster City Council, the report findings will be presented at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 3 December. It will be followed in January by a Council Improvement Strategy.
Speaking about his reasons for commissioning the report Chief Executive Andrew Kilburn said:
‘When I joined the Council in October 2008 I became immediately concerned that we did not have the whole picture. With the full support of the Cabinet, I commissioned an independent panel of experts to investigate the issues and make recommendations for improvement.
"This is a very hard hitting report. Our residents deserve better than the systemic failures which the panel has uncovered. I will be asking Cabinet to accept the panel’s recommendations in full. We need to start the process of restoring our residents’ confidence in their Council’s ability to procure and manage contracts."
Cllr Chris Robbins Leader of the Council said:
"When I became Leader of the Council in May, I promised local people that I would work hard to improve local services. In the last five years Waltham Forest has improved greatly and this has been recognised by the independent panel report. Nevertheless, the Council has been aware that Contract Management needed to be more effective, which is why we commissioned this external and independent review.
"The report has indeed highlighted some significant failures in contract management over a number of years. As Leader of the Council I will ensure that the recommendations of the review are acted on quickly and decisively. Working with my Cabinet colleagues I will make additional recommendations that are designed to add to those of the independent review.
"I want to apologise to the residents of Waltham Forest for the failure of the Council in these areas. While we have made big improvements in recent years, we are not complacent. We are committed to work to ensure continued improvement in both management and service delivery in Waltham Forest."
Cllr John Macklin, Deputy Leader of the Council said:
"This report shows that there are clearly some areas of the Council which are still not fit for purpose and this is not acceptable.
"Our absolute priority is to put these matters right whilst still delivering the continued improvement in services and value for money that our residents deserve.’
The part of the investigation which relates to the Council’s Audit Review of the Youth at Risk project has not been released by the Council, nor have papers which relate to individuals."
Andrew Kilburn said:
"It is always a source of disappointment to the Council when legal issues and data protection regulations mean that we cannot release every part of every report. We have a legal duty to ensure that we do not breach people’s privacy or leave the Council open to litigation. On all of the areas where we have removed papers or sections of reports, it has been on the advice of independent, external legal opinion.”
ENDS.
Notes to editors:
- The full report is available on the web page for the 3 December Cabinet meeting
- The report will be discussed at a meeting of Waltham Forest Council's Cabinet on Tuesday 3 December, Waltham Forest Town Hall, Council Chamber 7pm
- The panel was chaired by Sir Peter Rogers, Chief Executive of the London Development Agency and former Chief Executive of Westminster City Council. Lucy de Groot CBE, former Executive Director of the Improvement Agency for Local Government, and David Parr, Chief, Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council, join Sir Peter on the panel. CVs are available on request
- Chief Executive Andrew Kilburn will be available for interview on request
- The terms of reference for the panel are available online
