Contract worth £30k awarded to councillor's friend

North Norfolk District Council awarded a £1,000-a-day contract to a senior councillor's friend

A £30,000 contract awarded to the friend of a councillor was "inappropriate", an investigation has found.

In 2019, Liberal Democrat-led North Norfolk District Council gave a £1,000-a-day contract to a contact of then senior councillor Karen Ward.

Council rules state at least three quotes must be obtained for work worth more £5,000, but none were sought.

The investigation found an exemption form for the above was backdated.

The procurement exemption form, which is used by councils when it cannot follow normal contract procedures, was dated 20 May 2019, but an IT review found it was downloaded and printed off on 9 October 2019.

Accounting firm Ernst and Young, which carried out the review, said the council's arrangements were "not adequate" with a significant risk of "non-compliance of internal policies", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Not unlawful'

The company found the contract failed on four grounds:

• No formal tendering process was undertaken with no other quotes for the work obtained

• A proper "procurement exemption" process was not followed

• No formal contract was signed between the review provider and the council

• Two leading members of the administration were central to selecting the provider, which was branded "inappropriate"

Despite the failures, the accountants said the cost of the contract was not out of line with what it would expect for a review of this type and was satisfied the transaction was not unlawful.

A police investigation into allegations of financial crime found no criminality in March 2021.

A meeting of the council's governance, risk and audit committee decided to discuss the issue behind closed doors.