Checks around funding grants for city wards are “pretty strict now” after years without appropriate oversight that could have led to public money being lost.
Cllr Jane Corbett, deputy mayor and Liverpool Council cabinet member for finance and resources, told a meeting of Liverpool Council’s audit committee that new steps have been put in place at the local authority to better manage and check on how grants are being handed out to community groups from the Mayoral Neighbourhood Fund (MNF). A report to councillors revealed public funds could have been lost owing to a lack of safeguards around the near £1m pot handed out across wards in the city by the council.
Until an internal audit three years ago, the funding was not “regularly or consistently” accompanied by checks or paperwork, nor were assessments undertaken on the recipient organisations to ensure they were legitimately constituted. Cllr Corbett said following the report in 2019, new steps are now being adhered to, including checks made to accounts of organisations receiving council funds and if a grant is of more than £5,000, "another level" of due diligence is actioned. She added it is “pretty strict now”.
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Cllr Tom Crone, leader of the Green Party group, said: "One of the good things that has come from this is the checks being made on the money being spent, how it should have been. I'm pretty sure they weren't being checked before."
Council officers have admitted however the risk around misuse of funds cannot be fully removed. Officer Chris Lomas said he was "absolutely sure" that if wrongdoing was identified, the relevant processes would have been followed.
Despite this and her own assurances, Cllr Corbett said “we are all busy and short-staffed at the council” and Mr Lomas added it does not have the resources to perform “after care” check-ins with organisations when they are given a grant. David Harris, grants and performances manager, said he believes "proportionate safeguards" are in place against potential misuse and fraud but you can never "eliminate risk entirely".
Cllr Corbett has begun a review into discretionary grants handed out by the council to ensure they meet the city plan. The findings will be reported later this year.
Mr Lomas added transparency was key to the success of the scheme moving forward. He said: "The more transparency the better, the more we can do to map and understand spend to remove duplication and make sure outcomes are being delivered, these things will evolve and improve."
It was said the government appointed commissioners have not given a view on the MNF but Cllr Corbett said with changes made in 2019, "they may well have been on top of it" had the council not already acted.
