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Auditor damns leisure services

From the archive, first published Tuesday 7th Feb 2006.

Leisure services run by Oxford City Council are of an "unacceptable" standard, with lax financial controls and abuses of position, a report has revealed.

A three-month investigation by auditors, which will be revealed to councillors on Thursday, shows the Town Hall's troubled leisure department is in chaos.

It cites:

A lack of transparency in awarding contracts

Weak management

Unacceptable health and safety checks

Abuses of position.

Auditors KPMG will reveal there are weaknesses in reporting declarations of interest between senior officers and potential contractors, and instances where staff have run up substantial bills using work mobile phones for personal calls. KPMG also found no inventory of expensive equipment at one leisure centre and instances where maintenance check registers had not been signed off.

The auditors' report concludes: "The areas that caused most concern were the lack of transparency in the council's tendering process, the inability to provide evidence health and safety checks had been under- taken... and the absence of controls in income management."

The department, which runs swimming pools, leisure centres and the Oxford Ice Rink, is also responsible for cultural events, tourism and museums.

Labour city council leader Alex Hollingsworth described the issues highlighted as "serious and unacceptable".

Lib Dem leisure spokesman Paul Sargent said: "The leisure services department has been completely out of control. Nobody knows how much money is there -- no checks have been carried out."

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