Author: Sal and Simon
Ventnor Audit Report: Unlawful and Undocumented Selection of Winter Gardens Concessionaire
Sunday, 31st January, 2010 at 3:36 pm, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight Council, News, Town Council, Ventnor, Ventnor Winter Gardens
Reading the Auditor’s report, it’s clear that the awarding of the concession to Graham Perks was unlawful, and highly questionable.
Everything that follows is based on facts from the report.
Wrong from the start
The very root of the concept of sub-contracting the bar and food concession of Winter Gardens (WG) is questioned by the auditor.
The WG is owned by the Isle of Wight Council (IWC) and through a contract, is managed by Ventnor Town Council (VTC).
The auditor found that the contract between IWC and VTC didn’t allow sub-contracting without written authority. None could be found.
Summary: All of the times VTC has sub-contracted the WG concession over the years may have broken the IWC contract.
VTC selection process unlawful
As the value of the concession that (the now Cllr) Graham Perks took on was so high (£512,200), the process that VTC should have used in finding candidates is laid down in law. They didn’t follow the law.
Summary: VTC didn’t abide by the law, making the process unlawful.
Bidder evaluation completely undocumented
A sub-committee was formed to evaluate the prospective concessionaires.
The current Town Clerk (Tina Bailey) tells us that according to the minutes of Winter Gardens Committee meeting held on 16th October 2006, this sub-committee was formed with Chair of the Winter Gardens Committee (ex-Cllr) Maureen Cawley; (then Mayor) Susan Scoccia; Cllrs Rob Mew; Brian Lucas; the late Brenda Lawson and ex-Cllr Val Taylor.
There’s a list of major problem with this whole process as item 43 on page 12 of the report states
Regarding the procurement process that did take place, from the records made available to us during the audit we were unable to find evidence of:
- the advert asking for expressions of interest
- the number of expressions of interest received
- which bidders were selected for further discussions
- minutes of the sub-committee meeting to discuss the proposals with the four people chosen or of the basis for the final choice.
Summary: The process is undocumented and no records exist of any competitors to Graham Perks being evaluated.
Without any evidence of this process, the councillors on this sub-committee have left themselves wide open to accusations that other potential concessionaires weren’t properly evaluated.
As the IWC auditor wasn’t able to find out who the other potential bidders were, we’ve asked one of the sub-committee, Maureen Cawley, if she could tell us who the other bidders were. She declined saying that it was “probably confidential.”
Only Graham Perks interviewed
During the interviews to evaluate the potential concessionaires, the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) and Town Clerk were to be present.
The RFO stated to the Auditor that he was involved in only one interview – that with Graham Perks. The only other people present were the then Town Clerk, John Farrant, and Maureen Cawley.
Summary: The Audit report shows that there was only one interview.
Proper council procedures not followed
Once the sub-committee had carried out its evaluation of prospective concessionaires, the auditor states that the sub-committee should have brought its evidence to the full council for them all to make a collective decision.
Next up: Once the concession was awarded to Graham Perks, details of how it was carried out.
Image courtesy of Isle of Wight Historic Postcards
Related posts:
- Ventnor Audit Report: Timeline of the Winter Gardens Concession
Use this new tool to make sense of the sequence... - Ventnor Audit Report: £35,000 of Rent Discounts and More
Cllr Perks was allowed significant discounts to his agreed rent... - Ventnor Audit Report Reveals Some of Ventnor Town Council’s Secrets
There's more under the surface.... - Audit of Ventnor Town Council: A Damning Report
This is where we're gathering all material we garner from... - Audit Report Into Ventnor Town Council Released (Update 4)
Lots on information in the 38 pages, with worrying terms...
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Yes, doesn’t make good reading, does it. And you have missed out the fact that more than a month before the sub committee met (un-minuted) to discuss the four candidates, the Town Clerk wrote to Graham Perks including “on a
personal level I very much hope we can reach a suitable agreement”. Whch is an surprising thing for someone involved in the selection process for such a large contract to write.
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And the problem is…? Graham Perks ran an excellent bar and the food was great and no I have no connection with Gtaham Perks or his current enterprise.I am just a very satisfied customer of the Winter Gardens while he was in charge.I doubt very much if anyone else could have done any better.
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It doesn’t sound like anyone else was going to get a chance. It doesn’t really matter if he was the best at it, if the law was broken in giving him unique access, there should be some sort of hoohah made.
Wasn’t there an issue with the money that GP paid?
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… possible corruption.
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I am a relative newcomer to Ventnor, and in trying out all local hostelries I found the one bar I expected to be the most open, to to be the clickiest. The Bar at the Winter Gardens threw me back to the ” Slaughtered lamb ” in the American Werewolf movie. Visitors had no chance of even reaching the bar without dislodging the punters who seemed superglued to the floor and bar, and whose language would have dissuaded most neutrals from even attempting to buty a drink, so for me, it was good news when I hear the concession had ended. maybe we can see a welcoming, more open and upmarket atmosphere there
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I agree Roydini. Given there was a sign on the bar saying bad language was not acceptable, my only guess was that most regulars couldn’t read. I was embarrassed taking a lady friend to a gig there and having to witness what you explain above. I hope that it will be back up and running as a decent bar before the spring.
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I agree with the comments above, we visit ventnor every second weekend, and often visit the local public houses, Having only visited the Winter Gardens once, that was enough! it’s unwelcoming and tatty, a real shame given its location.
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Hi Kevin and Loopy, maybe we should get together and compare notes on the best locations ??
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As the IWC auditor wasn’t able to find out who the other potential bidders were, we’ve asked one of the sub-committee, Maureen Cawley, if she could tell us who the other bidders were. She declined saying that it was “probably confidential.”
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If Maureen Cawley knows who the other bidders were, shouldn’t she have told the auditors?
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Theres seams to be an ‘opinion’ that GP did something wrong..Having read the document, the only thing I can find that he did that could be ‘considered’ wrong was to agree to a ludicrous rent..either through nievity or pre-knowledge that he would never pay the full amount.
Apart from that, the entire problem lies with the VTC and its procedures
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Not sure of the ‘opinion’ of other people, we’re simply reporting the facts as they are presented in the audit report.
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I meant generally
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Don’t forget that the concessionaire was not only a member of the VTC but also sat on the WG committee that managed his concession………..
Nice work if you can get it
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