LIB DEMS CALL ON AUDIT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE BOB KILEY CONTRACT

The Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly this week revealed that TfL has spent £210m on consultants in the past financial year (2006-07). By comparison, it spent £31 million in 2004-05 and £33.5 million in 2005-06.
Group Leader Mike Tuffrey said: “A quarter of a billion spent on consultants in a year is an insult. Londoners are not yet seeing real improvement to their daily travel conditions despite all the spending. We need to see fewer middle men and paper pushers and more value for money. With Bob Kiley, Ken Livingstone is breaking his own code of practice on contracting. Unless we get satisfactory answers today, we will be referring TfL to the Audit Commission for immediate investigation.”
Also this week successfully moved a motion in the London Assembly calling on the Audit Commission to investigate the payments Transport for London has made to Bob Kiley in light of the lack of transparency surrounding Mr Kiley's consultancy contract.
The call for the investigation follows the summonsing of information from TfL about the contract - which revealed that there is no record of the number of days Mr Kiley has worked or the advice he has given - and questioning of Mayor Ken Livingstone and senior TfL officers by the full Assembly today.
Mike Tuffrey said: "No reasonable person or farepayer could help but think this contract is a scandalous waste of Londoners' money. The Mayor and Transport for London have been unable to provide this Assembly with either the documented evidence we required from them, or satisfactory answers at the meeting today, to justify exactly what Mr Kiley is doing to earn his truly extraordinary fee.
"For this reason, we have no option but to call on the Audit Commission in the hope it will be able to shed some light on what seems to be a very murky deal indeed.
"In the meantime Transport for London should not hand over another penny. The current contract arrangements are absolutely unsustainable - no further payment should be made to Mr Kiley and Transport for London should renegotiate the contract so any future payments are for work he has actually done."