North Lanarkshire Council chief executive urged to sever ties with Mears over repair firm's 13,000 dodgy jobs dossier
dailyrecord.co.ukA North Lanarkshire Council boss has been urged to sever ties with a repairs firm after it was found to have fudged its figures to make its performance look better.An investigation into the claims, first reported by Lanarkshire Live's sister paper the Sunday Mail, revealed that Mears LLP had changed the completion dates on more than 13,000 repair jobs across North Lanarkshire over the past two years.It allowed them to meet performance targets set by the local authority and look like they were fixing problems in homes and buildings faster than they actually were.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.
Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android Des Murray, chief executive of North Lanarkshire Council, has denied any knowledge of the practice which Mears has now admitted was “long-standing” and had “become custom and practice over a number of years.”Investigators also said other council staff were unaware of the practice in their audit report published last week.This is despite internal emails showing a senior council official questioning Mears managing director Willie Docherty on the performance data in February 2022.Lanarkshire Live has also learned that Murray met with the Mears boss at least three times in the six months after these concerns were first raised but he claims the issues were never discussed.A council spokesman said: “The audit
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