Council worker sacked after investigation into use of purchasing card

A Welsh council employee was sacked following an investigation into possible fraudulent transactions involving a purchasing card. The issue at Newport City Council came to light after an investigation found the council authorised transactions worth over £50,000 without proper receipts last year. The matter was brought before the council's audit committee on Thursday, 28 May, as part of a report examining shortcomings in the local authority's card usage. An audit discovered "significant weaknesses" including people paying travel expenses "outside approved channels", using council cards to settle parking fines, and buying gifts and refreshments "not permitted under council policy". Never miss a Newport story by subscribing to our newsletter here . A committee report also highlighted issues with missing VAT receipts and insufficient supporting documentation for purchases – in total, the council authorised transactions of over £50,000 last year without proper receipts. Committee member Norma Barry told colleagues she was "very concerned" by the report on a situation she said was "indicative of lack of managerial oversight, training and control". The report, spanning 2024/25, provided a limited assessment of the council's purchasing cards policy, and comes after an "unsatisfactory" audit opinion for 2022/23. Dr Barry said the new report "certainly didn't give me the necessary assurance things are being tackled". She continued: "When I saw serious misuse of cards, I thought 'how is this being allowed to happen?'" The council's head of finance, Meirion Rushworth, said the second audit had been taken "very, very seriously" and was disappointing in light of previous failings. "That fraud case – all internal HR processes have now been completed with that case, and the individual has been dismissed. It has also been reported to the police. We mustn't talk any further about that one, but it has been reported to the police and is following its course of action." Cllr John Reynolds told fellow committee members he was "equally disappointed" to find out that non-compliance with the purchasing card policy was still so prevalent. Regarding the absence of receipts for purchases, he remarked: "I understand within the grand scheme of council finances that's relatively small, but in terms of reputational damage and public perception, £50,000 of unsupported expenditure is not good." Council strategic director Rhys Cornwall said: "I totally recognise the seriousness of this. We put in place a series of actions after the first audit which we'd hoped should have resolved most of the issues." He acknowledged that the new report does find there's been some improvement and said himself and the council's HR manager have "had some fairly challenging and robust conversations with some heads of services around this". However, Mr Cornwall also highlighted that individual members of staff occasionally make urgent card purchases, such as housing workers required to arrange emergency temporary accommodation at a hotel. Mr Rushworth said the new audit was carried out between the old way of doing things and the new way of doing things, adding that a lot of the actions had already been implemented from the initial review. Dr Barry added: "We need assurances as a committee that this does not happen again. It is quite a serious reputational issue." Committee chairman Gareth Chapman reminded officers that the misuse of such cards had real consequences. He said: "I would hope, given this is the second time it's been looked at, lessons will be learned. Some of these staff are in very difficult positions when they exercise the use of that purchasing card. They are on the front line. "Even if it is in accordance with policy, a justification needs to be made in regards to why they've spent that money in that urgent situation."