LDA inept rather than corrupt, audit verdict
LDA’s ‘massive’ misspending was ineptitude rather than corruption is the verdict of damning audit report
A damning report into the
London Development Agency
(LDA) released yesterday by the Forensic Audit Panel says the tens of millions
of pounds of public money squandered by the agency was the result of ineptitude
rather than corruption.
The report, which also raises the prospect of a similar investigation into
Transport for London, calls for the LDA to be stripped of its role in the 2012
Olympics and for £8m of cuts across the Greater London Authority, according to
the Evening Standard.
‘Our investigations have left us in no doubt that money has been misspent on
a massive scale, say tens of millions,’ Patience Wheatcroft, head of the audit
panel, said. ‘We’re of the view that it was ineptitude rather than corruption
that was the biggest blight on the LDA.
She said the panel had been ‘very nervous’ when looking at allegations of
misspending by former London mayor Ken Livingstone’s former race and policy
adviser Lee Jasper as they were being investigated by police.
Further reading:
Livingstone refuses to appear before audit panel
Read
the Evening Standard story