Belfast councillors have been told to expect a report on two long-awaited audits before the end of the year.
But one representative has called for the financial inspections, which the council says are “currently being finalised”, to be made available to councillors instead of what he termed “summary documents”.
The audits, carried out by an unnamed company, were commissioned at least 18 months ago to examine the delivery of public funds through outside organisations.
They relate to the council’s use of so-called local strategic partners – or community groups – to distribute more than £4.5 million of ratepayers’ money.
The first looks at the delivery of Covid-19 funding, while the second examines Belfast City Council’s 2021-22 food/fuel voucher scheme.
A third audit into the local authority’s fuel hardship fund is also underway, following the appointment in March of an outside company to conduct the inspection.
The £1m hardship fund quickly became mired in a controversy about how it was administered.
The council and the organisations selected to distribute the funds faced criticism over the manner in which households were expected to secure the £100 worth of vouchers available.
As a formality, the finished reports will be shared with local government auditor Collette Kane.
A statement from Belfast City Council said a report on the two of the three outstanding audits “will be brought before elected members for consideration later this year”.
It is unclear when and in what format councillors will receive the findings of the fuel hardship fund audit.
SDLP north Belfast councillor Carl Whyte voiced concerns over the time taken to conclude the audits and about how the information would be shared with elected representatives.
“The lengthy delay in finalising the audits of the 2021/2022 Covid support schemes and food/fuel voucher schemes is disappointing, especially given the large amounts of money distributed via these schemes,” he told The Irish News.
“It is vital for transparency and public confidence that the full audit reports are provided to councillors and not summary documents.”
