Auditors KPMG have raised concerns over Corby BC's arrangements for managing capital regeneration projects.

The report by KPMG looks at three construction projects, worth a total of more than £67m over the last six years, including the Cube civic offices, Kingswood estate developments and improvements to the Rockingham Triangle sports complex.

According to the auditors, the financial and project management of the schemes was ‘poor' and the local authorities management arrangements for the projects were ‘ambiguous' and ‘ill-defined'.

It also states the land at St James was sold for considerably less than it could have been, without getting the statutory approval to do so.

‘There is no doubting the very real benefits to Corby residents from the regeneration projects considered in this report,' said KPMG audit director, Neil Bellamy.

‘However, there were at the expense of good corporate and financial governance. We found that decision making arrangements were unclear, and that there were significant failings in the design and operation of the council's governance arrangements.'

Corby BC leader, Cllr Tom Beattie, said: 'The failures that have been identified in this report are unacceptable. The people of Corby have been let down but they can be assured that these failings are a thing of the past.

'The report confirms the outcomes of our own investigations and endorses many of the steps we have already taken to improve accountability and oversight. It indicates that the steps the council has taken over the last 18 months have been the right ones.'