Middlesbrough Council's unlawful payments not referred to police

Middlesbrough Council was warned urgent action is needed to get it back on track

An unlawful appointment and payments at Middlesbrough Council have not been referred to police, it has emerged.

An audit last week revealed the authority wrongly appointed an advisor through a local publicity company to work with elected mayor Andy Preston.

The firm was paid £32,000 for the work from October 2019.

Cleveland Police said the matter had not been referred to the force and that there was nothing to suggest it would be a police matter at this time.

'Deep-seated' dysfunction

The arrangement with the firm was terminated in November 2020 after it was assessed by the council to be unlawful under the Local Authorities Regulations 2002.

The payments in question were signed off by the council's chief executive Tony Parkinson.

The audit, by external company Ernst & Young, concluded urgent action was needed to improve the council and it did not rule out some functions being taken over by independent commissioners.

Mr Preston was also criticised over his involvement in the Boho X skyscraper project which saw £600,000 wasted after the plan was scaled back.

Mayor Andy Preston has hit back at criticism he received in the audit

The report claimed there was a "pervasive lack of trust" among elected members, and between council officers and elected members.

In an email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Parkinson said improvements could only be made through a "widespread change in the political culture of the council and a fundamental change in the way that all elected members behave".

However, he added: "In our opinion, the political dysfunctionality that exists in this authority is too deep-seated to enable this within a reasonable timeframe.

"We, therefore, have no confidence that noticeable improvement will be made and consider the use of further powers to be almost certain - it is a case of when not if."

The auditors required the council to develop an improvement plan and will monitor progress over the next six months.

Responding to the report last week, Mr Preston said too many councillors were "selfish and lazy" and that the council had a "toxic culture".