A COUNCIL has been criticised for awarding a £540,000 contract without going out to tender.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council was investigated by the Audit Commission over the contract, to refurbish Higher Croft Children’s Centre.

The audit revealed the council had breached its own procurement rules, and found ‘shortcomings’ with nine other contracts.

A waiver is needed if any contract worth more than £50,000 is not publicly advertised.

But no waiver was secured when the Higher Croft contract was given to a local building company in July 2008.

The commission also said staff needed more training on procurement rules, and records that were not kept of important decisions to demonstrate accountability.

The contract award was managed by the council’s outsourcing company, Capita Symonds.

There was a clear “mismatch” between the way the Capita handled procurement and the council’s own rules, the report said, and the officer put in charge of the contract award was ‘unfamiliar’ with the rules.

The centre, in Higher Croft Road, had been threatened with closure but a deal with apprenticeship specialist Training 2000 earlier this year saw it kept open.