CONTRACTORS GIVEN pounds 80,000 FOR NO WORK; Auditors slam education body.

Byline: VICTORIA McMAHON

ANTI-fraud controls at an education authority were so poor that pounds 80,000 was paid to contractors for work that was not done, a report reveals yesterday.

A probe by the Northern Ireland Audit Office into allegations of pricefixing and collusion at the Belfast Education and Library Board has unearthed a catalogue of wasted cash.

Auditor General John Dowdall slated the BELB for its failure to challenge criminal fraud by maintenance contractors and for undermining any criminal case that might have been mounted.

The report also found:

A BELB officer went on a four- day junket to Italy visiting the Ferrari factory paid for by a contractor

A CONTRACTOR charged pounds 266 for a plumber and his assistant to take eight hours to plumb a washing machine

AN officer gave pounds 64,000 contract to a boss he was related to

THE same officer received a verb a l warning for attending two golf outings paid for by another contractor A BELB officer at the centre of the probe was suspended on full pay for two years.

The NIAO probe was linked to investigations into whistleblower allegations dating back to 2003.

They related to claims of price fixing and collusion in the award of contracts which showed the board failed to develop a strong anti-fraud culture.

The report said: "Not only were controls weak, they were bypassed by middle managers. Policy was not followed and there was a lack of management oversight.

"Indeed the attitude seemed to be that maintenance ran itself and senior managers either did not understand or had little interest.

"The BELB attributed its problems to a culture in which contractors became overtly powerful." The proper checking of contractors' invoices before payment and the physical inspection of maintenance work were key to the prevention and detection of fraud.

The report went on: "These simple checks were, at best, ignored they must be implemented in future." Additionally an internal auditors' report warning that most maintenance work was being awarded to a small ring of contractors - and a warning of a suspected price fixing ring - were ignored.

The report added: "The NIAO considers the BELB did not treat these warnings with the seriousness required and reference to a pricefixing ring merited further analysis.

"Records systems should have been analysed to identify patterns in the award of contracts and relationships between contractors and staff."

Worryingly potential suspected criminal conduct by contractors went unchallenged by staff, undermining any future criminal cases.

Poor controls meant that staff who awarded contracts had been recruited from firms to which the board was giving the contracts.

Report authors said fraud training was inadequate and fraud policy not fully implemented.

With specific reference to the work on the two libraries which was paid for but which it discovered in 2005 had not carried out, the report said it reinforced the need for proper checks of invoices and inspection before payment.

In addition to the work not carried out on the two libraries, BELB has reviewed work on 14 other libraries for which it paid pounds 287,000 for and concluded pounds 110,000 was handed over for work either allegedly not done or not carried out to the required standard.

The failings were only uncovered by a newly-appointed facilities manager - illustrating how important it was for new bosses to examine existing processes and not allow them to continue unquestioned.

The report concluded: "It is a concern that the failure to carry out library works to a satisfactory standard was not identified or raised by library staff, nor did they create or maintain any record of what work was done and when."