Moray Council: Investigation into unused Aberlour nursery cabins shows ‘unauthorised’ £117,000 payment
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Moray Council needs to decide what to do with unused temporary classrooms as "a matter of urgency".
The cabins, bought for almost £235,000, were meant to house children while the nursery building at Aberlour Primary was refurbished.
But the two units will not be used for that purpose.
The findings of an internal investigation into contract management arrangements for the upgrade will go before councillors next week.
These reveal an advanced payment of £117,430 was made for the cabins without the knowledge of the chief financial officer, breaking procedure.
Also, at times, auditors were unable to produce a proper document trail for the nursery project.
On top of the cost, the council has spent £6000 storing the cabins at a site in Kintore, Aberdeenshire.
In addition, replacement doors bought to comply with building regulations have cost around £14,000.
A further £2000 was spent transporting them to a council depot in Keith.
Refurbishment work has yet to start on the project. But the amount spent so far is around £340,000.
Councillors were told in April that the total cost of the Aberlour early learning upgrade would increase from £900,000 to over £1 million.
In his report audit and risk manager Dafydd Lewis acknowledges staffing issues, the pressures of working during Covid and the rise in construction costs could have influenced decision making.
Mr Lewis said: "The audit findings should be viewed with consideration of the extraordinary challenges faced by officers during the pandemic.
"A decision should be undertaken as a matter of urgency regarding the future use of these temporary cabins.
"The audit has experienced difficulties in sometimes evidencing an audit trail that clearly documents progress.
"This may be due to the exceptional circumstances surrounding the pandemic and that officers have moved to other posts or are no longer employed by the council."
He added "no evidence" was found that the chief financial officer had been consulted to authorise the advance payment.
As well as a decision on what to do with the cabins, the report recommends officers be reminded of the council’s financial and procurement regulations.
A review of the Aberlour early years contract is also recommended.
Major refurbishment of the nursery was supposed to begin in August 2020.
Due to the pandemic that was rescheduled to the end of 2021.
One of the temporary units was to be sited in the grounds of Aberlour Primary, the other at nearby Speyside High School.
However, safety concerns were raised over the proposed locations.
Consideration was then given to setting up a temporary outdoor nursery in a park next to the cemetery in Aberlour.
But that was not thought suitable.
It had been thought the work would be carried out during school holidays.
However officers are now considering whether to buy yurts to accommodate the children.
These could be sited in the grounds of the primary school for the duration of the work.
The Aberlour nursery upgrade is the last part to be completed of the council’s £55 million expansion of the early years service, which is to provide 1140 hours of childcare for three to five-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds.
The Aberlour project will be discussed at a meeting of the audit and scrutiny committee on Wednesday.
