Forensic accountants find no intentional wrongdoing in building services controversy

An independent report by a forensic accounting firm has cleared the Tauranga City Council of any intentional wrongdoing in a building services controversy revealed earlier this year.

The report by Beattie Varley Limited confirmed the council's procurement policy was breached when the building services department contracted Holmes Farsight to help manage building consents in 2015.

It was later found that Holmes Farsight was not an accredited building consent authority.

Forensic accountant Ian Varley said the breach of the council's policy was "inadvertent and unintentional". He found no evidence of any inappropriate relationships between council staff and Holmes Farsight staff.

Concerns were raised by accounting firm BDO earlier this year about how the relationship between the council and the company developed.

Beattie Varley Limited was called in to carry out a review.

Mr Varley found it was all above board, and some checks had simply "slipped through the cracks" in a situation he described as a "perfect storm" of mounting pressures.

In a statement, council chief executive Garry Poole said the quality of Holmes Farsight's work was not in question. The review was needed to show why council processes were not followed and to ensure ratepayers could have confidence in the council.

"The report suggests that the breaches were due to people making assumptions that internal sign-off and checks had been done by others when they hadn't. it also shows that council needed urgent support to ensure it could undertake its duties as a Building Consent Authority, and Holmes Farsight provided that gap at short notice."