The Islington audit committee row continues with a new twist. Helen Cagnoni of the Islington Leaseholders Association makes the point that Islington tenants have long suffered from over-inflated bills for work done to their buildings, which subsequently result in substantial increases in service charges or force tenants to take on long-term 10-year repayment plans. How many of these bills are due to major contractors charging twice or even three times for the same work?
It seems, however, that the auditors employed by Islington council have not investigated payments made to these major building and maintenance contractors, but simply drawn on a sample of ten invoices from 30 medium-size suppliers. And yet, it is alleged that one of these major contractors spent £230,000 on scaffolding on a council project, which was later found to be unaccountable when leaseholders took them to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. Tip of the iceberg…
Tim Newark, Islington TPA