"After 4 years of ongoing support, Public Sector Consultants has provided Watford Borough Council with a solid, sound foundation on which to build for the future" said Janice Maule, Corporate Director of Finance & Resources. Public Sector Consultants arrived on site back in 2001 amidst turbulent times. The Council had three Public Interest Reports and the unprecedented distinction of having its accounts disclaimed for two years in succession - a situation where there is insufficient evidence for the Auditor to express an opinion on the Statement of Accounts. Other support service providers had tried to rectify things but couldn’t cope with the problems and left.
Initially, Henry Jones was manager of the assignment and adopted a trouble shooting role, to identify the true scale of the problem and secure the client’s agreement to a significant input of appropriate skilled resources to deal with the issues.
Once the situation had settled down, Paul Julian, an experienced ex-District Council Treasurer, replaced Henry. Paul liaised closely with the Members and Audit and he put together a recovery plan.
Within 2 years of working with the Council, Watford achieved an unqualified opinion which the I&DeA had predicted would take 4 years. Upon hearing the news, Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said "I am indebted to Public Sector Consultants, their work and effort is responsible for much of the progress we have made and their commitment to Watford was 100%".
In 2003, Barry Shinn replaced Paul and took a more stabilising role. He handled the technical aspects of closing the accounts and oversaw the production of a clean set of accounts. Finally, Dave Lincoln took over from Barry and he has been steering the Authority through its change management process and new approach to financial management; pushing the Council forward to a high standard.
By putting together a different blend of skills and resources, we have assisted Watford in meeting their changing needs and with our support, they are now able to produce unqualified compliant accounts.
