A major Liverpool City Centre regeneration agency called “Ropewalks” is still under investigation by the European Commission fraud squad OLAF and now fraud, yet again, raises its ugly head in the Liverpool City Council. The ugly word “consultancy fees” is mentioned in the below Liverpool Echo article. The question we must ask ourselves is, when do consultancy fees cease to be consultancy fees and actually become back handers? It’s now becoming quite obvious that this recent case is just the tip of an iceberg, but what does the district auditor and the council’s own internal auditors do about it? Nothing! When a culture of silence has been allowed to evolve for many years amongst the lower ranks, as it has in the Liverpool City Council, it would seem that excuses are perfected and that the “nod nod, wink wink” analogy has firmly established itself amongst the senior officer class.

Full Liverpool Echo article can be viewed on the Liverpool Echo web site:
 http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=12104204&method=full&siteid=50061