TODAY'S WASTE OF THE DAY! Read on...
Weston Mercury
Refuse blunder wasted public money - council auditors
12 November 2008
"TAXPAYERS' money has been thrown away by a council waste blunder, according to a report.Auditors say North Somerset Council paid hundreds of thousands of pounds too much for its waste collection services from 2002-04.Grant Thornton's report states the unitary authority paid Biffa, its contractors at the time, between £183,000 and £298,000 more than it should have done.It also criticises council officers and the company for destroying historical documents relating to the investigation.The report states the council failed to notice irregular trends in waste disposal until the company's contract ended.The abnormalities relate to the amount of business and domestic waste being produced in North Somerset.In the year after Biffa's contract finished in 2004, the amount of commercially-produced waste increased annually by 3,500 tonnes while there was a corresponding decrease in domestic rubbish.North Somerset Council dismissed the findings and has insisted its waste monitoring has been effective.The unitary authority conceded it had investigated taking legal action against the company, but was advised a lawsuit would be unsuccessful.North Somerset Council environment chief Councillor Carl Francis-Pester said he was disappointed with the report.He added: "This external audit investigation relied heavily on work carried out by our Internal Audit team and as a result of tightened controls, waste management has not been considered to be a significant internal control risk for a number of years."
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