An adoption service has taken action after staff mileage claims were found to be higher than expected and orders for goods were only placed after the date of the invoice. The issues came to light during an audit of the Western Bay Adoption Service, which covers Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend.
Auditors found a number of instances where the mileage claimed by staff was higher than expected for the description of the journey, and home to work mileage had not been deducted by a staff member. No details about the amounts involved were provided in the report before Swansea Council's governance and audit committee.
Auditors also found 13 out of a sample of 15 orders for payments of goods and services had been placed after the date of invoice. And quotes had not been obtained for purchases totalling more than £10,000 for seven suppliers. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Nicola Rogers, the adoption service's manager, told the committee that the mileage issues came about as staff resumed face-to-face appointments in people's homes after Covid lockdowns. "I think it was a difficult period," she said.
She said relevant mileage policies had been circulated to all staff since the audit, which gave the service a "moderate" assurance rating. The four assurance ratings are high, substantial, moderate - meaning controls are ineffective - and limited. Ms Rogers also said that staff mileage claims were regularly sampled now to pick up any issues.
Meanwhile, measures have been introduced to ensure all purchases complied with contract rules. Ms Rogers said there has been close contact with Swansea Council's procurement team since the September audit, which also found that some procedures were operating satisfactorily.
Lay committee member Julie Davies said reading the report in its entirety was concerning as some of the issues had been identified in a previous audit. Philip Sharman, another lay member, said "something is fundamentally wrong" if 13 out of 15 orders had been placed after the date of the invoice. Committee chairwoman, Paula O'Connor, said it was concerned about the issues raised and requested that a follow-up report be brought back to the committee.
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