Agenda item

The Director of Legal and Governance referred to an investigation by Internal Audit which was triggered by a whistleblowing concern.  The previously exempt audit report: Transporter Bridge – Whistleblowing, had recently been released by the Monitoring Officer, in the public interest.   The Director of Legal and Governance invited the Committee to consider the lessons learned and their wider application to the management of maintenance of the Council’s assets.  

 

The Director of Finance provided reassurance that the anonymity of the whistle blower had been preserved, and anyone wishing to bring issues forward could do so with the confidence that confidentiality would be maintained.  The Director of Finance thanked the whistle blower for raising concerns and the Internal Audit Team for their report.

 

The Committee received a presentation from the Director of Finance.  Opened in 1911, the Tees Transporter Bridge was Grade II listed and was the longest working transporter bridge in the world and an iconic symbol of the area’s engineering and industrial heritage.  Middlesbrough Council managed the bridge in line with an agreement with Stockton Borough Council under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972.   The bridge had been closed since August 2019 to allow for essential investigation and maintenance works.

 

A whistleblowing report regarding health and safety and the overall maintenance and management regime for the Transporter Bridge was received by the Council’s internal auditor at that time: Tees Valley Audit and Assurance Services (TVAAS) on 8 August 2019.  An audit investigation started on 28 August and was reported on 23 December 2019.  It was agreed with Director of Finance and Governance and Executive Director of Growth and Place, at that time, that the audit would go back 10 years.

 

There were three key points in terms of arrangements for looking after the bridge for Internal Audit to consider:

 

1.         Did the Council understand the requirements of what was needed to maintain the bridge. 

2.         Did the Council ensure that the necessary expertise was in place to apply those requirements and be able to maintain the bridge properly.

3.         Did the Council undertake the work to understand the situation the bridge was in and what needed to be done to it, and very importantly, keep appropriate records of the outcomes and make evidenced-based maintenance decisions on what needed to be done.

 

Overall audit found that TVAAS found Cause for Considerable Concern in relation to the areas examined, meaning fundamental failures existed within the control environment and the Council was exposed to unacceptable levels of risk. 

 

TVAAS concluded that most of the allegations made by the whistleblower were accurate. While no evidence was found that repeated requests for maintenance or requests for the bridge to be closed were refused, it identified a mostly passive and ineffective management approach to the Transporter Bridge over the previous decade.

 

It found that the lack of specifically qualified or trained bridge or structural engineering staff engaged by the Council to manage the facility ultimately led to the deterioration of the structure to the extent that it presented a health and safety risk.

 

There was a lack of adequate maintenance programmes or appropriate inspection regimes in place to meet Health and Safety regulations and best practice. While some inspections had been carried out, there was no evidence to support that any of the recommended actions formed the basis of any management reports.

 

There was limited evidence of management reporting and it was difficult to establish senior management’s role or level of oversight. There was no evidence of reporting to wider stakeholders, including Stockton Borough Council.

 

Ten findings were set out by TVAAS, with associated management actions, seven findings were Priority 1 (a fundamental risk requiring immediate action) and three were Priority 2 (a significant risking requiring timely action).  The details of the agreed management actions and their priority, were set out in the presentation.

 

To put this into context, only three Priority 1 findings were set out across a total of 70+ internal audits across the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years. As such, this was the most serious report received by the Council from its internal auditor for many years.

 

TVAAS noted some improvements to working practices since the transfer of bridge management from Transport and Infrastructure to Property and Commercial Services.  Since the audit investigation, Property and Commercial Services had been taking forward works to allow the agreed management actions to be completed and to propose options for the safe reopening of the bridge and its future operating model.

 

The target date for completion of all actions had moved from 31/03/20 to 31/03/21 with the agreement of the Council’s current internal auditor, Veritau, to account for the time taken to conduct, analyse and report structural investigations, a process which had been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.  During this period, the health and safety risks outlined in the report had been mitigated by the continued closure of the bridge and temporary works to ensure its structural integrity.

 

The Director of Finance outlined the progress since the audit investigation in terms of management oversight and policy, procedures and associated works.   A report would be presented to the Executive on 22 December 2020 outlining options for the future operating model for the bridge and associated capital and running costs.

 

It was proposed that the Committee approve a review of current arrangements within the Council to provide assurance that the situation in respect of the Transporter Bridge is unique and other such instances would not occur in the future.  The Health and Safety Manager presented a detailed briefing on these matters to the Health and Safety Ad Hoc Scrutiny Panel on 3 November 2020 and would continue to provide an annual assurance report to the Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee in February 2021.

 

The actions identified in the TVAAS audit investigation would be completed by March 2021 to ensure robust governance arrangements were implemented in line with the agreed operating model.

 

Finally, Internal Audit, would be commissioned to review arrangements in respect of the Transporter Bridge after six months to provide assurance the governance arrangements were embedded and effective. 

 

Members raised and discussed several issues including: the value of the Transporter Bridge on the Balance Sheet in the Council’s Statement of Accounts, the anticipated report on the full structural survey of the Bridge, the Council’s Change Programme and Senior Management Reviews, and communication processes within the Council.  Officers provided clarification on the points raised and undertook to forward information in relation to the value of the Transporter Bridge, and the name of the Manager of Transport and Infrastructure at the Council at the time of the audit report.   The Chair of the Council’s Corporate Health and Safety Committee also expressed his view that both Committees needed to work together to ensure that the Council’s Health and Safety management system was effective.   

 

AGREED as follows:

1.         The Council would commence review of arrangements to assess conditions of Middlesbrough Council owned buildings and structures and plan and implement appropriate works.

2.         The actions identified in the TVAAS audit investigation would be completed by March 2021 to ensure robust governance arrangements were implemented in line with the agreed operating model.

3.         Internal Audit was commissioned to review arrangements in respect of the Transporter Bridge after six months to provide assurance the governance arrangements were embedded and effective. 

4.         Internal Audit was commissioned to review the Change Programme and associated Senior Management Reviews over the last five years to assess the impact of the Programme and the savings achieved.

5.         The Monitoring Officer would give consideration to introducing a communications policy to ensure there was a structure in place for Members to access information and provide details to the Committee.