Thousands of documents were assessed and hours of interviews conducted to establish the extent to which Liverpool Council mishandled its energy contract renewal.
Mazars Accountants released its report into what caused Liverpool Council to add at least £16m to its energy costs after failing to renew its terms with Scottish Power on time. It revealed failings at the heart of the Cunard administration and criticised former chief executive Tony Reeves’ handling of the situation.
The report also outlined how the independent investigation was put together after being ordered jointly by the Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson and the government appointed commissioners overseeing the city. Interviews were carried out between May and July with more than a dozen officials from the council including the former chief executive, lead commissioner Mike Cunningham, Mayor Anderson and her deputy, Cllr Jane Corbett - who was stripped of the role as finance lead in the aftermath of the debacle.
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Further to that, the report said an email review was performed on seven “key individuals”. More than 5,000 items were reviewed as well as an assessment cabinet meeting agendas and minutes, energy contracts and amendments between the council and Scottish Power, energy reports, briefing notes and Liverpool Council’s policies and procedures.
The investigation, which is expected to have cost the taxpayer at least £80,000, was set out into three parts by the three individuals tasked with looking into the council. The first phase was targeted at gaining a “thorough understanding of the events that led to the cabinet taking a decision on 4 March 2022 about the award of an energy contract extension on terms that were found to be not available to Liverpool Council.”
This phase involved undertaking initial meetings with the city council internal audit team to understand the preliminary internal enquiries undertaken and work performed, as well as reviewing contracts to understand the existing Scottish Power terms, and the terms of the new agreement with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).
Advice and correspondence made available by the authority’s legal and financial advisers was also put under the spotlight to consider whether the guidance was “appropriate, sought and received in a timely manner, and duly considered.”
During the second phase, inspectors reviewed the internal audit report, its scope and findings. It was during this period extensive interviews were conducted “to understand the actions or inactions taken as well as the circumstances and rationale behind the energy contract renewal decision.”
It was also at this time, emails were looked over belonging to those key individuals “and any other relevant individuals we deemed necessary to gain an understanding of any communications, files and instructions shared between those involved in the energy contract matters.” The third phase culminated in the publishing of the report on Thursday.
The report will now go before the council’s own audit committee to be debated by members on Wednesday for further scrutiny.
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