THE process under which millions of pounds was allocated for highways repairs in York last year has been criticised, following an internal audit.

City of York Council is tightening up procedures after the investigation identified 'weaknesses' in the way it was decided which roads should benefit from an additional £2 million of repairs in 2014/15.

A memorandum by council auditors Veritau said it identified a 'lack of clear boundaries between members and officers' and members were involved in private briefings about lists of schemes to be undertaken and also approved the lists.

It said lists of schemes deemed to be a priority were presented in order of electoral ward rather than priority, increasing the risk that decisions could be based on which area a scheme was in, rather than condition and relative importance in the network.

It also said: "Adequate audit trails do not always exist to show why changes to lists of proposed schemes have been made. This makes it difficult to assess how the final list of schemes was arrived at in the event of queries or challenges."

But Max Thomas, the head of internal audit at Veritau, said detailed findings from the audit included 'sensitive and personal' information and were not being made public because it would breach Data Protection rules.

"Furthermore, it would also be prejudicial for future audit investigations because it may result in councillors/members not being as free or frank," he said.

But this decision has prompted claims of a 'whitewash' from Independent Osbaldwick councillor Mark Warters, who originally sparked the investigation when he complained that wards held by Labour councillors - or where it hoped to win seats at next month's elections - had received more funding for repairs than others.

Cllr Warters said at an audit & governance meeting that alarm bells had been set ringing for him when he discovered his own ward, Osbaldwick, was receiving only a 'mere' £20,000 and Derwent was getting only £26,000, while Dringhouses and Woodthorpe were getting £243,000, Haxby/Wigginton were getting £235,000 and Westfield was getting £358,000.

He claimed officers had been 'very unhappy' with what had happened, and added: "I know for a fact that a list of schemes drawn up by the officers, using the criteria that they work to, were taken to the cabinet member, and they were told to take that list away and take certain schemes out and put certain schemes in on the say-so of the cabinet member."

But Cllr David Levene, Labour's Cabinet Member for Transport, said Cllr Warters had no evidence for his claims and said: "I am pleased that an audit process has confirmed there is no evidence of wrongdoing, and welcome the recommendations on improving the process, a process we inherited from the previous administration."

He added that he was proud the Labour administration had invested an additional £2 million in York's highway network last year and another £2.3 million this year, giving it the best quality road network in Yorkshire.