£2m repairs tendered as probe starts

MORE than £2 million of contracts have been offered by the city council's property conservation department in the last month, despite an ongoing investigation and a third of staff being suspended.

Councillors today called for a ban on all but the most urgent statutory repairs after documents obtained by the Evening News revealed a major architectural consultancy contract worth 360,000 was offered, while another three-year repair contract was advertised for nearly 1.7m.

Other contracts offered ranged from 40,000 to 150,000, mostly on property in the New Town.

Auditors from Deloitte and detectives from Lothian and Borders Police have been called in to investigate fraud allegations and eight council officials at the building department have been suspended.

On Monday, the Evening News revealed that at least 300,000 of roofing work carried out on private residences would have to be redone because it did not meet standards.

Labour councillor and Edinburgh MSP candidate Ewan Aitken urged the council to halt all but the most essential work.

He said: "Any new contracts should only be undertaken in emergency circumstances.

"As of yet, I'm not convinced that we have the level of transparency we require to ensure both residents and contractors can have confidence in the system.

"Given that one of the challenges is the whole issue of how work is being allocated, what decisions and criteria have been used to determine which firm gets the contract?"

Statutory repairs are unique to Edinburgh and allow the council to carry out essential repairs to private properties and then recoup the costs from the owners.

Labour Edinburgh Central MSP Sarah Boyack said: "I hope this isn't business as usual. One of the concerns that many residents raise with me is of the issue of not just the quality, but the management of work.

"Residents are very concerned about escalating prices. The council needs to clarify that management process and that there is an incentive to make sure that major projects don't see huge cost over-runs."

One council source said freezing new contracts had not been ruled out, but that an option to retain the ability to carry out emergency repairs had to be kept.

Conservative economic and development spokesman Jason Rust said: "I'm very surprised that the department is proceeding with these contracts at such a rate. The cessation of statutory notices, except in emergency situations, may be an appropriate measure.

"No doubt given the number of unanswered questions we have, Edinburgh residents will be quite shocked."

A city council spokesman said: "Details will be reported to council on April 28 and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on advertised contract notices before councillors have had a chance to discuss it."