TENDER RAGE
ALYN Jones, Somerset council’s director of resources who also leads its controversial transformation project, Inspiring Innovation (see last Eye 1656), missed an awkward meeting of the audit committee when he was on leave last week.
A statement from transparency campaigner David Orr was circulated asking why Jones’ department had been awarded three contracts, totalling £10.3m, in the first quarter of 2025, all breaching the law and statutory guidance on competitive tendering? During the first quarter, noted Orr, the council’s adult services and housing directorate had also let seven contracts, totalling £1.2m, in breach of the law.