METRO Mayor Dan Norris has been branded an “absentee landlord” in charge of the West of England Combined Authority, after taking on a second job as an MP.
The accusation came during a debate by councillors into the spending of £10,000 on an advertising wrap to decorate a double-decker promoting the mayor’s Birthday Bus scheme, which was described as a “complete scandal”.
External auditors Grant Thornton found the incident exposed “significant weaknesses” in the combined authority’s value-for-money arrangements.
A report by the finance firm upheld a previous finding that spending £10,000 last year on the advert, with huge images of Mr Norris and his dog, was for “political gain”.
The ad had been intended to promote the Birthday Bus free travel scheme, but officials in the mayor’s office were able to “bypass key governance controls and financial controls” and circumvent oversight by senior officers that would have prevented the purchase going ahead, auditors concluded.
The wrap was never used because WECA chief executive Richard Ennis, who has since left the organisation, found out about it and ordered that it be pulled.
Liberal Democrat B&NES councillor Toby Simon told WECA’s audit committee on September 9 that the report’s findings highlighted serious issues with the working style of Mr Norris, who is now also the Labour MP for North East Somerset & Hanham.
He said: “I was rather shocked to read that the mayor isn’t regularly present in the combined authority office.
“The mayor uses his political adviser as an intermediary when communicating with senior officers.
“And the mayor doesn’t give enough guidance to officers on his priorities, so he ends up vetoing recommendations at committee.
“This adds up to an ‘absentee landlord’ mayor who picks favourites in the office and can’t work effectively with stakeholders.”
In March the government warned WECA over the poor state of professional relationships between the Metro Mayor and leaders of the three councils who comprise the combined authority.
South Gloucestershire Conservative councillor Ben Burton (Frenchay & Downend) said Mr Norris taking on a second job as an MP could directly impact his focus and time needed to address the serious concerns and could even make the situation worse, such as officers working in “silos” with poor communication between them.
Fellow Tory and Bristol city councillor Jonathan Hucker said the handling of the £10,000 bus advertising spend was “a complete scandal”.
He said: “The organisation is obviously dysfunctional on so many levels.
“I’m not terribly optimistic that these issues will be fixed because the metro mayor now has another job.”
WECA’s current chief executive, Stephen Peacock, said an independent ‘best value improvement panel’ had now met, with WECA committee members confirming their commitment to improvements.
He said: “There are a lot of things within the organisation that need to improve and change.”
Mr Norris, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, has been approached for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service