Auckland City Council has been cleared by the Auditor General's office of any skulduggery over its management of multi-million dollar footpath contracts.
The office was last May asked to investigate council management of the contracts following public concern about the integrity of tendering processes.
A 2007 council inquiry found nothing untoward but following claims of a coverup council chief executive David Rankin called in the auditor general's office.
Auditor General Lyn Provost said her office was concerned that a large public entity, responsible for footpath contracts worth millions, was continually attracting public criticism and that the allegations persisted.
She said the inquiry found that the council's processes and procedures for managing footpaths work were still evolving but were reasonable and had been applied adequately.
"We are satisfied that the council has protected the interests of ratepayers throughout its management of footpaths contracts," she said.
"My staff found no fundamental flaws or gaps in the council's contract management processes, no apparent evidence of corruption at any level, and no waste."
However, she said the inquiry found some administrative processes could be tidied up and had made some recommendations.
Each of the concerns raised publicly had some basis in fact but the issues were not as serious as they appeared and all were dealt with appropriately.
That included an isolated instance of an individual accepting a gift, which did not compromise the 2009 footpaths contract tendering process.
The council said it welcomed the report which concluded the council and its people were "doing a good job".
