Principal Auditor's report: £5 million of services to Environment Department never put out to tender

Five million pounds’ worth of services provided to the Government's Environment Department were never put out to tender, according to the former Principal Auditor’s 2018/2019 report.

In some cases, there is no formal contract in place; in others, services continue to be used despite contracts having expired.

In one instance, a service has not been re-tendered for 35 years, linked to a minister's family.

In the Department of the Environment’s audit, Tony Sacramento identifies 13 services being delivered to the Government without having gone through the tender process. He says this breaches the Government’s own purchasing and procurement policy.

Among the services listed:

Botanical services
Eden Botanics and Gibral-Flora Limited - both without formal agreements for maintaining planted areas.

The Environmental Agency Limited has taken on a wide range of roles including work in disinfections, building and food control, the provision of air quality monitoring and the climate change programme.

Wildlife management
The Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society and the Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic have been tasked with managing the macaques. The Animal Welfare and Conservation Centre Limited has been responsible for animal impounding and animal conservation services.

Conservation duties
The Trustees of the Gibraltar Trust for Natural History and the Trustees of the Helping Hand have been carrying out what's described as 'particular duties and services' in the Upper Rock and in marine nature conservation.

Consultancy and education
Janet Howitt has been engaged for environmental consultancy, and Brian Gomila for the Macaque awareness and education programme.

Other services
JT Security, General Lifts and Trafalgar Cleaning have been engaged for services in their respective fields. 

Tenders haven’t been issued for these services and in some cases, the contract they’re operating under has expired.

The auditor also notes that Wildlife Gibraltar Limited is managing the Alameda Gardens, Commonwealth Park, CampionPark and Upper Rock areas, as well as the control of the gull population, and that the original tender for this was put out in 1990.The Environment Department has not re-tendered this contract. It says it's satisfied with the service.

The Prinicipal Auditor says there is a reputational risk, particularly in this case. He highlights a family connection between the Director of Wildlife (Gibraltar) Limited and the Minister for the Environment John Cortes, and says the decision not to re-tender could lead to loss of trust in the procurement process.

The former auditor says he has advised the acting Chief Executive that failing to tender - or to re-tender expired contracts - can carry legal, financial, reputational, operational and strategic risks.