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Police investigating ‘financial discrepancy’ at London council repairs company
Police are probing a “financial discrepancy” at an east London borough’s housing repairs company.
Newham Council called the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in December over concerns about its repairs and maintenance service (RMS).
Local paper the Newham Recorder previously revealed that senior managers have been suspended and sacked from the RMS for gross misconduct, after the firm overspent by £8.7m in 2017/18.
The paper claimed that staff had been found logging allowances of up to £14,000 and overtime of up to 66 extra hours a week, as well as making large payments to external workers and companies.
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A council report before a meeting on the 12 December said that three RMS employees had been dismissed for gross misconduct but were appealing the decisions, while other staff had resigned or were being investigated.
The RMS employs 250 people and is responsible for maintaining Newham’s 15,000 council homes, gas work and highways, as well as building new homes.
Most of the overspend is reportedly in the highways department.
A spokesperson for the force said: “The MPS are aware of a matter relating to a financial discrepancy in Newham.
“The matter was brought to the attention of police in December 2018 by Newham Council.
“There have been no arrests and an assessment is currently at the preliminary stages; all information is still being reviewed.
“Officers are working in close co-operation with London borough of Newham.”
Newham Council has not challenged the Newham Recorder’s reports.
In a statement issued last month, Newham mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said her administration had inherited “staggering incompetency at the highest level and, frankly, a shambles” at RMS.
Ms Fiaz took over in May last year from Sir Robin Wales – also a Labour councillor – who had previously led the council since 1995.
She said whistle-blowers first made the council aware of issues at RMS in 2017 and that she was told as a member of the audit board in March 2018 at a closed meeting.
The mayor’s statement added: “I have instructed the new management team at RMS to implement a whole series of measures designed to offer reassurance on the effectiveness, governance, and efficiency of management, performance and compliance.
“As a result the 2018/19 financial forecast for the service is a break even position.
“While there are some legal issues that still need to be resolved, which means there is a limit to what more I can say publicly at the moment, I will be making more information available as soon as those are sorted out.”
Newham Council has arranged an extraordinary full council meeting for 22 January to discuss the RMS situation.
