Haringey Liberal Democrats are asking for immediate action to be taken after it arose that the £50 million regeneration project The Bridge New Deal for Communities (NDC) has been managed so badly by Haringey Labour that no financial accounts of the project can be produced.

Councillor Wayne Hoban asked both the Director of The Bridge NDC and Haringey Council to provide him with copies of the audited accounts and auditor’s notes for the five years that the project has been running, only to be informed that no such accounts were available. Cllr Hoban has written to Haringey’s District Auditor to ask for an urgent forensic investigation of the NDC’s accounts.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“I find it incredible that this £50 million project should not have annual Audited Accounts. These are a major safeguard against mismanagement and ensure that the money is being spent appropriately, and it is extremely concerning to find that none have been kept.

“Concerns expressed by the local community about the way in which this multi-million pound project has been managed to date appear to be well founded, and require immediate action. I am extremely disappointed in the long delay, which I consider to be unacceptable.I have asked the District Auditor to respond immediately to my concerns, and I think it very important that he do so as soon as possible.”

He further comments: “In view of the non-availability of audited accounts for the first five years of the project, nothing less than an independent forensic auditor’s investigation of The Bridge NDC accounts will do.”