Mismanagement by a council-owned careers service has seen £2m of taxpayers' money lost
An investigation was launched following a suggestion that fraud and/or corruption at Essex Careers and Business Partnerships (ECBP) had led to the £2m loss.
ECBP went into liquidation earlier this year, a move blamed on Government red tape.
It has now emerged ECBP, a private company which was owned by Essex County Council plus Thurrock and Southend councils, and funded mainly by the Government, lost £2m through mismanagement after the acquisition of a company.
It bought ICM, the fourth largest executive recruitment agency in the UK, in 1998. It sold it to Cedar International in March 2003.
During that time ICM ran at a loss totalling £2m. The principal shareholders of ECBP were Essex County Council and Essex Training and Enterprises.
A spokesman for Essex County Council said that ECBP carried out a review with due diligence, including using external advisors, before buying ICM.
After concerns over ECBP, the county council's fraud and corruption investigators looked into the company last year.
It found the losses were associated with the acquisition of ICM. There was no evidence of fraud or corruption, but there were a number of management activities which contributed.
Published Wednesday August 4, 2004
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