COUNCILLORS in Monmouthshire were not always provided with “sufficient financial information” when the authority considered a new way of providing tourism, culture, leisure and youth services, auditors have said.

The county council considered setting up an Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) to deliver services in 2018, which included spending £155,000 to get advice on the project.

But last April, the council scrapped the plan after being told the financial benefit would only be ‘marginal’ due to a change in VAT laws, and instead decided to transform services in-house with a “more commercially minded” approach.

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A Wales Audit Office (WAO) report on the council’s leisure services says sufficient information was not always presented to councillors when alternative models were initially considered.

But it says councillors have since been “proactively involved” in deciding to transform services in-house.

An outline case which considered moving to an alternative model was presented to councillors in September and October 2016.

But, while pros and cons of the different options were presented, there was no ‘final score’ to support justification of the preferred delivery model.

A WAO report says there was “a lack of specific financial consequences or financial assessment to support the preferred delivery model and other models under consideration.”

A report did not include issues such as a cost-benefit analysis of all the options available, projected income generation and predicted financing for the next three to five years.

The contribution of leisure services to the council’s wider public health role, and the impact of options on groups with protected characteristics was also not fully considered, auditors said.

The council’s joint-select committee raised concerns over the level of details presented, suggesting it did not help them reach a decisive conclusion.

But auditors said the council has since “proactively involved” councillors in assessing options to deliver leisure services.

A report says councillors were kept “well informed” through a review process.

“The council is proactive in ensuring members will appraise and evaluate the decision to transform leisure in-house,” it says.

Cabinet members have also praised the availability of leisure service performance information and the availability of senior officers to discuss any concerns, the report adds.