Council Leader Questioned over Council Credit Card Spending Failures as Another Council Racks Up £8 Million on Credit Cards.

Questions have been asked about Westmorland and Furness Councils spending on the councils 251 credit cards after it emerged another Cash-strapped Northern Council racked up a bill of almost £8m on its corporate purchase cards in the last financial year.

A damning report into purchase card activity within just one department of Middlesbrough Council, by investigators found evidence of non-compliance with policy and thousands of unreviewed transactions. There was no regular challenge against excessive spending limits, auditors found, while some officers were even reviewing and approving their own spend.

Corporate credit cards are issued to employees who can then acquire goods and services. At the time of the report, Middlesbrough Council had 286 active purchasing cards across all departments.

In comparison Westmorland and Furness Council currently have 251 active procurement credit cards with 251 individuals authorised to make transactions with the council’s corporate credit cards.

Mirroring the situation that had developed in Middlesbrough Council, it has emerged that since the 1st of April Westmorland and Furness Council failed to publish any details of the spending on any of the councils 251 corporate credit cards. Councils have a duty under the local government transparency code to publish expenditure and spending on procurement/credit cards.

The leader of Westmorland and Furness Council, Cllr Jonathan Brook was questioned at the council’s cabinet meeting in Kendal on Tuesday morning, and asked to explain why Westmorland and Furness Council has failed to disclose the expenditure to date on any of the 251 corporate credit cards held by the council for public scrutiny. 

The leader was also asked if the council knows the amounts spent on its 251 credit cards since the 1st of April 2023.

In response to the questioning Cllr Brook confirmed that the council does have 251 credit cards and that the council has to date not reported the spending on those cards as its required to do. 

The council leader said the council is working on producing a format that will be suitable to allow the council to publish the spending on credit cards and will publish as soon as its possible to do so.