Gedling Borough Council has been warned it still has work to do to prevent the repeat of a fraud case which saw an officer secretly steal almost £1m to fund a gambling habit.
In 2024, ex finance officer at Gedling Borough Council, Alan Doig, was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position and obtaining money transfers by deception over a 19-year period.
The 57-year-old’s activity was uncovered in 2022 where he was subsequently dismissed. He was jailed for five years last October.
In August 2022, the council had specialists assess his crime and in April 2023, until January 2024, an internal audit into its IT financial controls found deficiencies for the year ending March 31 2024.
Auditors looking at the authority’s accounts say providing assurance the council is making informed decisions and properly managing its financial risks will be a “significant piece of work”.
The council’s Audit Committee met yesterday (February 25) to discuss its external audit report on its financial statements for the 2023/24 financial year.
Yearly financial accounts of public organisations, such as councils, are reviewed by auditors to ensure their finances are in order. The council’s yearly accounts are being checked by Forvis Mazars.
In the firm’s annual report of the accounts – looking at the council’s arrangements for securing value for money – it found no significant weaknesses in the authority’s financial sustainability or how it improves its economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
However, it did find risks of significant weaknesses in the council’s governance, referring to how the authority ensures it makes informed decisions and properly manages risks.
Auditors say this weakness reported for 2023/24 takes into account previous significant weaknesses reported for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts.
The committee heard the most recent weaknesses found are not because any new problems have been found, but because auditors cannot conclude they do not exist.
Ms Norman said this is due to previous internal audit reports during the 2023/24 financial year relating to the fraudulent activity, and because auditors have not had time to conclude whether arrangements for the council securing its governance are in place.
Audit documents noted “significant” IT control deficiencies and the “privileged access” given to Mr Doig within the financial system Agresso. These deficiencies also hindered the completion of the audit.
Councillor Stuart Bestwick (Con) asked: “I think you said there’s a significant weakness in the governance arrangements still. Is that what you’re telling us now… why is that still happening?”
“Are you saying we haven’t put that right yet from the fraud, or is it something different?”
Ms Norman responded: “It is to do with the fraud, but secondly we have not been able to conclude that, that significant weakness in [governance] arrangements can be cleared.
“It’s going to be a significant piece of work, it’s a very particular situation that Gedling’s in, that’s why we’re bringing it forward.”
She concluded the Alan Doig’s fraud and the ongoing work and audit reports within the 2023/24 financial year are the reasons auditors cannot guarantee significant weaknesses in governance do not still exist.
Cllr Bestwick clarified: “So are you saying you’ve not been able to conclude that everthing’s ok, or are you saying there are still weaknesses? It’s slightly different and I hope you understand why it’s important to know that.”
Ms Norman responded: “I do understand- we’re saying both- but I would go with the former, this is something we identified in a previous year and we’re bringing forward.”
