A nine-month internal investigation has now been completed into why the Isle of Wight Council was able to award a multi-million pound contract to an international firm - High Point Rendel (HPR) - without any tendering process.It resulted in the suspension of seven council officers, including the deputy chief executive, followed by sackings, a resignation and an early retirement.
What has this to do with parking you may ask?
Well, when you read the BBC report here it reveals that one senior council officer suspended over the Undercliff contract - director of regeneration and the environment Derek Rowell - was involved in a similar incident when he worked in the northern seaside resort of Scarborough.
The same Derek Rowell was responsible for Scarborough's Parking regime the operation of which was far from acceptable. In September 2004, the council was found guilty of maladministration by the Local Government Ombudsman after road markings and signs relating to parking where shown not to comply with legal requirements. As if that was not bad enough, the council's practice of pursuing unpaid tickets with civil court action was declared unlawful. The council were using powers available for decriminalised parking schemes, but had not actually bothered to apply to the government to run such a scheme.The illegal practices would probably still be happening today had not somebody made the mistake of slapping a ticket on a car belonging to the daughter of former Scarborough police traffic sergeant Keith Hughes. The council pursued her for non-payment and got more than they bargained for. A report is available here on the ABD site.
I am sure that some council officers are shuffling uneasily in their seats, especially in light of the revelations of a former parking services manager last week in an employment tribunal in the North East. Suffice to say at this moment, that this will be pretty explosive when all is revealed.
No comments:
Post a Comment