Statement from Richard Lewis in response to the report by Timothy Dutton QC into the World Class Payments Bureau

I wish to thank Timothy Dutton QC for his report and firm conclusions as to how the World Class Payments Bureau was set up and operated, and the lessons that need to be learned from it. The report is detailed and in-depth and I welcome that.                              

I asked for this inquiry to be established because I was concerned that between September 1999 and March 2007, a bank account had operated outside the usual financial controls of Sport England, falling far short of the procedures and safeguards now in place in this organisation.

The inquiry has found that:

• The way in which the WCPB was set up and operated was fundamentally flawed
• It was not set up by the Sport England Board as it should have been, but by management
• It was never brought within Sport England’s internal or external audit programme
• There were failures by management to report to the Audit Committee and Board
• The £19.6 million that passed through the Bureau went to sport, but it is doubtful that Sport England obtained value for money for all of the investments made.

As Chair of Sport England, I particularly note Dutton’s conclusions that:

• There was no fraud, corruption or dishonesty within Sport England
• Most if not all the funding which was routed through the World Class Payments Bureau ended up in the hands of those for whom the payments were intended
• There is therefore no basis for legal action by Sport England against those who were involved in the WCPB , or those who failed to report on its operations
• There has been a clear improvement in management and financial controls since April 2007, and that “the Chief Executive has inculcated into staff a culture change: compliance is now high on the agenda”.

The report also recommends further steps which need to be taken at Sport England. The Chief Executive, Jennie Price, and I accept those recommendations in their entirety, namely:

• Improving our document management, in particular archiving and record keeping
• Continuing our policy of employing fewer temporary and interim staff
• Ensuring that, as presently is the case, there is appropriate leadership of our Audit Committee¹.

Dutton also recommends the establishment of a dedicated Sports Governance Committee. We accept the need to address the wider issue of National Governing Body (NGB) governance, especially for non-funded NGBs, and we will work with UK Sport, DCMS and sport itself to explore this recommendation.

Copies of the report

• Contents of the Report of the Inquiry into the World Class Payments Bureau (PDF)
  
• The Report of the Inquiry into the World Class Payments Bureau (PDF)
  
• Schedule 2 of the Report of the Inquiry into the World Class Payments Bureau (PDF)

Footnote

¹ Jill Ainscough is the current Chair of Sport England’s Audit Committee

Jill Ainscough is Chief Operating Officer of Ofcom, the converged regulator for the UK communications industry. Jill has widespread and extensive experience of accounting and auditing processes across both the public and private sector. Prior to joining Ofcom, Jill was Managing Director of BSkyB's Easynet Group - a company she first joined as Director of Strategy in 2001. Her achievements in that role included successful new market entry into corporate data networks and securing and managing a three-year sponsorship of the British Olympic Association.

Previous main roles include: Head of Marketing Development at NTL; Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for Barclaycard (1995-97); Business Planner for the Cambridge Cable Group (1994-95); and Senior Financial Analyst for the Granada Group (1990-92).