Details of payments from a company which spent £2.5 million of public money trying to improve Belfast's image were written on scraps of paper and the back of an envelope, according to a scathing report from the Audit Office released today.
Positively Belfast was formed in 1992 to organise events to improve the city's image, and received funding of some £2.5 million from the North's Department of the Environment before it was wound up four years later.
The report says the degree of latitude allowed to the company "was not consistent with good administration or ensuring value for money from its activities".
Vouchers for payments for sums covering hundreds of pounds included a compliment slip, a small scrap of paper, a pencil note on a self-stick label and a note on the back of an envelope.
"These instances of the administration of expenses in Positively Belfast would be unacceptable in any well-run public or private organisation and have worrying implications for the standard of financial control operated by Department officials in this organisation," the report says.
One of the main events organised by Positively Belfast was the Senior British Open Golf Championship. It entered into a contract to stage the event for three years from 1995 at costs of up to £750,000 each year, despite the fact that the Department of Finance and Personnel had reservations about the DoE covering the costs of the tournament.
It emerged that funding for the Golf Championship was made under the Social Need (Northern Ireland) Order which is aimed at helping deprived areas. Because of the "indirectness of the link" between a golf tournament and social need, the report says a grant of £510,000 was "irregular".
The Audit Office report also highlights the fact that the largest user of corporate hospitality at the 1995 tournament was Positively Belfast itself. "In the absence of a presenting sponsor, it took up over 100 places to provide hospitality to a range of guests including a number of potential sponsors for future years."
Almost £100,000 was wasted when the 1994 world finals of the Powerboat Superleague were cancelled weeks before it was due to take place on the Lagan river. Lack of private sponsorship was blamed, but the report says the position of sponsors should have been known at a much earlier stage to allow the event to be cancelled before substantial costs were incurred.
The previous year, the 1993 Irish Powerboat Grand Prix and associated Balloon Carnival cost taxpayers £189,000.
One of the arguments originally given for the setting up of Positively Belfast was that it would be better placed than government to secure private sponsorship. But in four years it secured only £512,000 in sponsorship.
One company of public relations and marketing consultants was paid a total of £612,000 over a 3 1/2-year period. The Audit Office says a situation was created "whereby there was no incentive for the consultants to minimise costs".