It looks like a harmless contract at first sight.
Awarded on the 14/12/2020, it began on the 04/01/2021, and was due to end on the 07/05/2021. There were no extensions to the contract and the awarded value and estimated annual value of the contract was the same amount £258,290.
The contract was awarded to the NRT Group (registered as NRT Building Services Group Ltd.) NRT was awarded just this contract.
Yet when one looks at the Purchase order data, remembering a PO is a legally binding document created by a buyer (the Council) and presented to a seller (NRT). It is much like the “cart” on Amazon or Ebay, a purchase order is essentially a list of what you want to buy. It lays out the order details, including quantity and types of products the buyer needs, as well as payment terms and delivery details.
Back to the PO data; which shows the Council created POs to the sum of £550,136. This was 113% more than the value of the contract
Then when one looks at the payment to suppliers data it shows NRT were paid £607,249. This sum is 135% more than the awarded contract value. One must not forget there were no extensions to this contract. None.
When one looks at the last two payments made on the 22/12/2022, these payments came after the date Dr Susan Priest assured the Audit & Governance Committee on the 7 Dec 2022, that things would change.
As we have previously said, there are more contracts like this and they add up to a considerable sum of public money spent, when the contracts had ended, yet the public pound was still paid, for no good reason. On this contract like many others before and after, it came down to poor internal controls and a failure to follow the Council’s contract standing orders.
Is it any wonder the new administration has to sort out the mess left by the last Tory led administration, and the officers who worked under them.
The inclusion of a company in this blogpost is not intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct.
The Shepway Vox Team
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