A joint venture was not invoiced £4.6million it owed to Barnet Council, an audit report reveals.

Barnet Council accrued income from Regional Enterprises (Re), a joint venture company from the council and Capita, adding up to almost £4.6million over two years due to underperformance which has not been invoiced.

At the council's audit committee on September 19, the committee heard invoices have not been sent to Re, and the Capita Partnership Manager, Mark Dally, told the committee they and the council were close to an agreement over the invoicing.

John Dix, who blogs as Mr Reasonable, said: "The council needs to be much more open, explain what has happened, if this is a continuing trend and whether the money is fully recoverable.

"With finances so tight to lose even part of the £4.6 million would mean yet more cuts to services.

"It sometimes feels like the only people holding theses large contractors to account are the residents."

He added there is a lack of transparency over how the outsourcing contracts are performing, and that this only came to light as part of an external audit process.

Further concerns were brought out about the cuts to services while it is unclear whether the £4.6million is recoverable from Re.

East Finchley councillor and Audit Committee member, Arjun Mittra said: "Nobody explained why it has taken two years to sort this out, so it’s another thing to add to the long list of Barnet Council’s bungles.

"The council should not let Capita wriggle out of paying the full amount owed, but, whatever the outcome, the fact remains that Re Ltd has underperformed and that is bad for Barnet and its council tax-payers."

The Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Richard Cornelius, said: "This is a complex contract, which is delivering greater collection of income across the borough, in particular from developers and has seen income grow by £6m each year.

"Inevitably, there are complex accounting procedures and reconciliations that need to take place, and once these are complete, we will raise the appropriate invoices for the money outstanding.

"The partnership remains on track to deliver £39m of savings over the life of the contract."