Liverpool Council is budgeting to pay an extra £16 million for a new electricity deal after a series of high profile mistakes.
Details have now appeared on an official contract register concerning the council's new electricity deal, which comes after a catalogue of errors were reported last month.
Liverpool Council previously had a contract in place with Scottish Power for electricity, which ran from June 2018 until May of this year. The deal concerned the supply for the council's own buildings and estate as well as the city's maintained schools and the fire service. The council had an option to extend the deal for another year until next May.
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A series of calamities culminated in officers failing to inform the council's cabinet that Scottish Power had withdrawn from the commercial market before they agreed to continue using the company for electricity supply. This meant no new contracts could be priced and agreed and the council would not be able to extend its electricity deal until the desk reopened. It also meant the council would be placed on the company's 'standard variable' contract until the desk reopened.
It was predicted that the litany of mistakes would cost the council itself a further £4.5m in energy costs, while the overall costs could rise by £16m. The revelations were followed by the resignation of the council's director of finance and deputy chief executive Mel Creighton while deputy mayor Jane Corbett had her finance brief removed.
The council is now moving away from Scottish Power and according to the Proactis contract portal, has agreed a new, temporary deal with Crown Commercial Service, which is an executive agency and trading fund of the UK Government's Cabinet Office. The contract details confirm that the council is estimating to pay £26m for the new electricity supply deal, running from June 6 this year until March 31 next year. This would be in line with the £16m estimated increase compared to a £10.6m contract over the previous year.
The ECHO understands the contract details remain estimates at this point and the amounts involved are confirmation of what the cabinet approved following the revelations of the Scottish Power mistakes. The actual figure could be different in reality.
The energy deal fiasco is currently being investigated by accountancy firm Mazars, who are expected to report back in the coming days. Mayor Joanne Anderson has previously called for 'full accountability' for what went wrong.
A team of government commissioners, installed at the troubled council last year, are also expected to publish their latest report shortly. They are expected to recommend further interventions and action at the council given the ongoing problems.
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