An internal audit of Southampton City Council’s fleet operations found that around a third of all short-term hire spending covered additional fees, including home delivery or collection, out-of-hours charges and fuel. Green Party councillor Luke Reynolds said the internal audit team’s findings clearly showed staff were not following the council’s own processes, procedures and policies. The internal audit found four high-risk and one medium-risk issue, giving the council’s fleet operations an overall ‘limited assurance’ rating. This means the auditors have limited confidence that the authority’s control measures over vehicle hire are working as intended. He said audit the raised questions about how seriously staff were taking the council’s own rules on vehicle hire.