A MEMBER of staff has been suspended as part of an investigation into the handling of a council tender, Carmarthenshire County Council has confirmed.
At a meeting of the audit committee on Friday (Jul 8), Head of Leisure Services, Ian Jones, told councillors that an investigation was underway concerning the catering contract in Pembrey Country Park, following fears that the process ‘may have been compromised’.
Mr Jones added that if any evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered, the council would ‘take the correct action’ and inform the police.
It was made clear that this investigation was not part of the initial internal audit investigation and report, which showed ‘significant procedural issues,’ but concluded that no fraud had been committed.
Chris Moore, the Director of Corporate Services, said that ‘the onus’ would be on him to report any wrongdoing uncovered to the police.
“We are in regular correspondence with the police, but we will have to demonstrate financial loss before they will be interested,” he added.
Mr Moore confirmed that a private investigator was investigating the matter, and that at present the authority was waiting for him to ‘pull together all the information’ before deciding what further steps, if any, needed to be taken.
As The Herald has previously reported, one of our reporters has been presented with a recording of a phone conversation, allegedly between a senior member of council staff and a prospective contractor, in which one party is heard to tell the other that they ‘will be awarded the bloody tender on the first of February’, some time before the formal process was completed, or due to be completed.
It is not clear at present whether it is this incident which is currently under investigation.
A spokesperson for CCC said: “A member of staff remains suspended whilst an investigation is undertaken into the allegations made. We are unable to comment further until this process is completed.”
Add Comment