Westmorland and Furness Council paid out more than £328 million to trade suppliers in the last financial year without conducting any checks to confirm whether those suppliers were linked, directly or indirectly, to individuals or organisations subject to UK or international sanctions.
According to figures provided by the authority, the council processed 250,000 invoices during 2024/25. This included 116,722 trade invoices, with a total value of £328,006,764.31. The council confirmed through information obtained via a freedom of information request that it does not use direct checks, third-party services, or specialist software to screen suppliers against the official UK sanctions lists that currently holds 5302 names of individuals and organisations.
The UK Sanctions List, maintained by the UK government, identifies individuals, organisations and vessels designated under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. Designated persons can be subject to a range of restrictions, including asset freezes and bans on providing or receiving funds, goods, or services. In UK cases, the list also gives the reasons for designation.
Since 31 December 2020, UK sanctions regimes have applied in full across the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. The law requires all individuals and organisations operating within UK territory, and all UK nationals and companies worldwide, to comply with these measures. This includes local councils, which must ensure that no funds or economic resources are provided to sanctioned persons or entities.
Government guidance states that businesses and public bodies should conduct due diligence to identify and verify their suppliers and partners. Recommended measures include screening against the UK Sanctions List and other relevant lists published by the United Nations and allied nations.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) maintains the Consolidated List of all individuals and entities subject to asset freezes. This list is updated immediately when new sanctions are imposed by the United Nations Security Council or its committees.
The UK Government provides a simple online search tool to check the current UK and UN sanctions list at https://search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk
Despite the freely available list and tools to check the sanctions list, Westmorland and Furness council’s confirmation that it has no process to identify sanctioned suppliers leaves it open to the possibility of having breached the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 by making payments to individuals or organisations subject to restrictions, using public funds.
Failure to check suppliers against the sanctions list was something the former Eden District Council was found to have failed to do in 2022 after it was revealed to be dealing with the Russian Gazprom for gas supplies for heating Penrith Town Hall.
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