Conservatives have criticised the use of an Enfield Council staff member’s bank account to handle donations to the borough’s coronavirus response.

Tory group leader Cllr Joanne Laban said it was “unprofessional” of the council to use the account to process more than £23,000 of donations to the Enfield Stands Together project, which was set up to help deliver food and other supplies to vulnerable people.

A letter dated September 16 from internal audit manager Lisa Byrne states that because Enfield Stands Together is not a charity, the council had to use a JustGiving page that only allowed funds to be transferred to a personal bank account.

Council bosses agreed for the funds to be transferred to an officer’s personal account before being moved to the Enfield Stands Together bank account within 24 hours.

The letter adds: “internal audit is satisfied that the documented procedures around the transfer of funds from the JustGiving page to the Enfield Stands Together bank account were followed and that all funds were duly transferred”.

But Cllr Laban said: “It was deeply unprofessional of the council to use a member of staff’s bank account for its activities. The Labour administration was very unfair to put the member of staff in that position, especially when the council had alternatives such as the mayor’s charity and other online fundraising methods it could have utilised.

“Fundraising for donations to support food provision was a good idea, but the council should not have used a personal bank account of a member of staff in order to do it.”

Cllr Laban questioned whether people would have donated to the fund if they knew how the money was processed. She claimed it was “highly irregular” for a local authority to use a member of staff’s bank account for its activities.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Enfield Council had to respond swiftly and decisively to meet the needs of the most vulnerable residents in the borough.

“Due to the fast pace Enfield Council had to work at during this crisis, a JustGiving page was created, authorising a council officer to use their own account in the first instance. Donations received had to be separate from ‘normal’ council business, and it was felt that using the Mayor of Enfield’s charity account was not efficient or appropriate.

“Internal audit is satisfied that the documented procedures around the transfer of funds from the JustGiving page to the Enfield Stands Together bank account were followed and that all funds were duly transferred.

“As a result of the Enfield Stands Together campaign, more than 40,000 food parcels were delivered, and the donations received directly contributed to the food distributed to residents in the borough.”