Cambridgeshire County Council admits 'serious failings' on contracts

One of the breaches related to a winter gritting contract

A council has admitted "serious failings" after an external audit found it breached procurement law, including over a winter gritting contract.

The two breaches by Cambridgeshire County Council date back to tendering for gritting in 2015 and the use of a consultancy service in 2016.

Auditor BDO said the issues it found "left the council open to legal challenge".

In its own report, the council acknowledged "serious failings".

In relation to the gritting contract awarded to Econ, auditors found no formal tendering process had been followed, in breach of the council's own rules, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The second case identified by the auditors related to the awarding of consultancy services contracts worth £92,857 to V4 Services Ltd during July 2016.

They found the service amounted to a modification of a contract with the company which had ended in June, meaning there should have been a new tendering process.

The county council admits that it "erred" in not running a new procurement process.

No legal action will be taken over the breaches.

The council said in its response that new systems were in place and further training would be provided to prevent future issues.

The reports will be presented and discussed at the Audit and Accounts Committee on Thursday.