THE former leader of Northumberland County Council has called for an investigation after it was revealed that more than £1.4m of public money had been spent on a project involving trips abroad.

In an email to the council’s monitoring officer, seen by the Hexham Courant, Coun. Peter Jackson raised concerns about the Northumbria International Alliance – an organisation founded and hosted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Northumberland County Council.

Hexham Courant:

The organisation’s website describes itself as the “one stop shop for other organisations to gain easy access to the best advice, support and help in the design and implementation of health and care systems, training, processes and facilities that meet their needs and requirements.”

Coun. Jackson said he had been told that the business was not a financial burden on the council or Northumberland ratepayers – but that information he had received showed both he and the cabinet had been misled. He has passed on his concerns to Northumbria police.

Hexham Courant:

The email to councillors read: “We have now been informed by council officers the extent of these hidden activities with evidence of trips abroad by some highly paid senior officers with the extravagance of 1st Class air travel and many thousands spent on subsistence and hospitality.

“The cost to the public purse of this project to the end of the financial year 2019/20 on this project is in excess of £1.4m.

“There are some significant costs including senior management time and internal group charges that have not been properly allocated to the project so it is likely that the losses are much higher.

“Despite repeated requests until now detailed financial information has been withheld from me and the cabinet.

“I have concerns about some of the expenditure on this project including high salaries, first class flight costs of £4,866 each, high hotel bills and an unexplained invoice relating to the Jumeirah Beach Resort in Dubai of £47,020.”

Hexham Courant:

When contacted over the issue, Northumberland County Council would not comment on the detail, but said a data breach had occurred which resulted in the email being leaked to the public and press.

A spokesman for the council said: "“We can confirm that a data breach has occurred in regard to expenditure and income for the Northumbria International Alliance project.

"This relates to a small number of current and former employees, as well as external partners involved specifically in this area of the business.

"We apologise for this error, which should not have happened under any circumstances.

"We are in the process of contacting all those involved, and have already reported this to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). A thorough investigation will be undertaken to ensure that this does not happen again."

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Healthcare said the issue was a council matter.

Coun. Jackson and Northumbria Police were contacted for comment.

A Northumberland County Council spokesman added: "We strongly refute any allegations or wrongdoing made as part of this data breach, and a thorough investigation is now underway.

"The information provided to the former leader of the council has been entirely and wholly misinterpreted.

"No information was ever withheld from the former leader or cabinet members.

"At the time of supply, the former leader was advised multiple times that the information was incomplete, inaccurately presented and not validated, and that officers needed more time to work through the information to make it factually correct.

"Expenditure as outlined in this data breach was not council expenditure.

"The figure of £47,020 was a legitimate contract arrangement between NHS Northumbria International Alliance NHS NIA with a healthcare planning company whose offices are in the Jumeirah Beach Resort, not to a holiday resort as implied, which the former Leader omitted from correspondence leaked as part of this data breach.

"There has never been nor will there be any first class international travel by any Council staff in relation to NHS NIA. Indeed any travel and hospitality expenses are covered by clients as part of agreed contractual arrangements - this is not expenditure incurred by the Council.

"NHS Northumbria International Alliance (NHS NIA) was launched in March 2018. The organisation was founded by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Northumberland County Council, and was the first of its kind in the UK."