Suffolk County Council failed to scrutinise Andrea Hill's expensive US Trips paid for by BT

Andrea Hill former
Suffolk CEO

Time was when this blog mentioned Andrea Hill (former CEO of Suffolk County Council) in virtually every post.  Thankfully those days are gone but a tweet from @publicwatcher made me wonder if we have all been so pleased to see the back of her that we have turned a blind eye towards those who were supposed to hold her account.

After all, one of these people, Jeremy Pembroke, is wandering around the County in a chain as Vice-Chairman of the Council and will next year be Chairman. Eight of them are still sat in the Cabinet. Even the "new" leader Mark Bee was Chair of the Scrutiny Committee and cannot escape from responsibility.

The link points to an FOI request that was first submitted on 1 June. Only today Suffolk County Council have finally responded to it. The original FOI requested:

Dear Suffolk County Council, 

Your CEO is on record stating that her trip to America was funded by BT. 

If your CEO is correct and BT did in fact pay all her costs, Iwould like any and all information regarding Suffolk County Council's scrutiny of her American trip in light of her business negotiations with BT and the fact that BT are on record stating

“Given the Public Sector rules on acceptance of hospitality and the reputation and benefits of the programme, clients pay their own flights and accommodation costs."

Today Suffolk County Council have finally confirmed that they have no information. So nobody did scrutinise Andrea Hill's BT funded trips abroad. Despite the huge multi million pound contract with BT which is still ongoing.

Hill may have gone but the BT contract and many of the people who were supposed to be holding her to account are still around. The Audit Committee should take a serious look at this case and make sure that sufficient regulation and scrutiny is in place to ensure that this kind of situation does not arise again and to hold those to account who did nothing during the previous CEO's troubled reign.