A NUMBER of construction companies have recently been fined by the Office of Fair Trading for rigging public sector bids.

Kier – which received the largest fine at £17.8 million – seems to be in favour with Waltham Forest Council, having won contracts to build five schools under the controversial Building Schools for the Future project.

It also looks as if the council is about to give Kier an extra £1million to improve its disastrous running of the street cleaning contract, which raises questions about the decision to award it the contract on the grounds that their bid would save £600,000.

Kier was not the only company found guilty of cheating local councils out of millions of pounds. Others fined have included Galliford Try, which built the Walthamstow Academy, and Henry Boot, which was involved in the original Arcade plans.

Henry Boot’s replacement for the supposed Arcade site – St Modwen – was found to have been involved in paying bribes in relation to the redevelopment of the Longbridge car plant.

Readers may recall this was where the Phoenix 4 bought Land Rover from the government for £10 and took out £42 million for themselves before bankrupting the company, closing the factory and putting 6,500 workers on the dole.

What steps have the council taken to ascertain whether these firms have been above board in dealings with Waltham Forest Council? What plans are in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?

It would appear that at the very least, the council is guilty of poor judgment in its choice of “partners”.

It also begs the question of why the council continues to give millions of pounds of public money to companies with such track records?

Darren O’Grady, Secretary, Waltham Forest Trades Council.