Ilex to have singlesponsor by April

He said a report on Ilex’s accounts for 2010/11 had “clearly identified issues” in terms of oversight at Ilex and that joint sponsorship by his Department and the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) was not ideal.

However, he attacked reports by some media outlets suggesting Ilex was due to lose management control of its landmark Fort George project.

He was asked by Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey if the company would continue as the management company of the Fort George site.

He replied: “The recent media speculation and ill-considered comments by some elected representatives around the future role of Ilex in the regeneration of the Fort George site have been unhelpful and confuse more important issues.

“A review of Ilex by the performance and efficiency delivery unit (PEDU) is under way. Concerns are regularly raised in the House about the efficiency and performance of arm’s-length bodies.

“Reviews such as that being undertaken on Ilex are essential to ensure that arm’s-length bodies deliver on the purpose for which they are established.

“I will be carefully considering what role Ilex should have in relation to the Fort George site in light of the conclusions of the PEDU review and the recommendations of the recent Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on former military sites and Ilex accounts.”

Mr McCausland said that whatever happens there will be no adverse impact on the delivery of the projects earmarked for the Fort George site.

“I can assure the Assembly that I will continue to keep the focus on delivering proposed projects, whether Ilex or my Department is tasked with the work.

“In the meantime, I urge everyone to await the outcome of the PEDU review. I also ask elected representatives to refrain from sowing confusion around the issue and undermining the good work achieved to date,” he said.

Mr Ramsey then claimed that a “senior member of DSD staff in Derry” had suggested Ilex was to lose control of the management of Fort George, upon which Mr McCausland asked him to “give me the details of that and name the individual, I am happy to look into it.”

Mr McCausland went on to explain how the PAC report had recommended more focused oversight for Ilex.

“Why is a change being considered?” he asked rhetorically. “The recent PAC report on Ilex accounts for 2010/11 highlighted that the dual sponsorship of Ilex by my Department and OFMDFM was less than ideal and that the Department should consider a single departmental sponsor for Ilex.

“In addition, under the review of the financial process being taken forward by DFP, it is proposed that Departments move towards single sponsor arrangements for arm’s-length bodies. OFMDFM and DSD have made a commitment to the PAC to work collaboratively to deliver single sponsor arrangements for Ilex by April 2013.

“The discussions have begun on how that change might be delivered and what its implications might be. One of the issues that is being considered is the possibility for the Department to take on operational responsibility for the management and regeneration of Fort George.

“That would place all responsibility and accountability for the one site in one organisation.”

Mr McCausland recently said his Department had no plans to change the management company responsible for the regeneration of the Fort George site.

Back in May the Sentinel reported how top civil servants from DSD and OFMDFM were monitoring Ilex after breaches in spending controls were discovered at the company.

The paper also reported how an ‘astonishing’ increase in the value of a contract awarded by Ilex in 2008 for consultancy on the Londonderry Peace Bridge would now breach EU procurement rules although it was procedurally correct at the time.

DSD and OFMDFM officials began shadowing Ilex to ensure procedural propriety after learning last November of unapproved expenditure on a number of projects dating back to 2008.

An extension of the Peace Bridge consultancy contract from £75k to £479k (£404k above the original approval) involved changes which have since been outlawed by the EU Court of Justice, the Committee heard.

Under a Pressetext ruling of 2008 any changes made to a contract of this value should now result in a re-tender.

Although the Peace Bridge award occurred prior to the ruling concerns were subsequently raised by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) which questioned the consultancy hike in its qualification of ILEX’s accounts for 2010/11.