Eyebrows raised at painter’s Canadian play role

SAdrian Ashby, who is married to senior curator Helen Ashby, has been a paintwork contractor at the NRM but his key role in helping to arrange a theatrical production in Toronto – and subsequently making several trans-Atlantic trips to work on the play – is understood to have raised eyebrows among staff.

One worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “There was discontent when they found out he had gone to Canada. He had gone before anybody really knew about it. We’re a taxpayer-funded national museum but we sent an outside contractor instead of a member of staff. He’s a painter and decorator – was he qualified to carry out a feasibility study?”

Mr Ashby received 11 separate payments totalling £9,300 for working on the Canadian production which the museum said included carrying out the feasibility study, overseeing the transport of a shunter used in the play, providing technical support and training Canadian drivers to drive the engine used in the production.

The NRM confirmed Mr Ashby, a long-term volunteer at the museum, had a qualification to drive a shunter but it is unclear whether he was qualified to carry out all the roles he undertook in Canada between March and the end of last year. The NRM said one other driver was employed in a similar role but current staff holidays meant it could not clarify further. It could not say how many times Mr Ashby had travelled to Canada.

Mr Ashby also played a substantial role in the production of The Railway Children at London Waterloo station in 2010, receiving £6,500 between July and the end of 2010 to drive the engine used in the play. The NRM said Mr Ashby initially became involved on an ad hoc basis because a driver was ill but was subsequently recruited and paid as a casual member of staff. The NRM said he was one of a group of drivers working on the production.

All Mr Ashby’s expenses, including hotels and flights, were also paid for though the NRM pointed out the touring company behind the production reimbursed all the wages and expenses to the museum.

Mr Ashby, who did not respond to a request to comment, also received £9,520 for seven paintwork contracts for rail stock since June 2008, though most were within the past two years. Over the same period he received another £1,500 as a casual worker employed through a pool of part-time staff on the museum’s books.

In June 2009, Mr Ashby was given a contract worth £1,150 to work on the restoration of the Flying Scotsman but the NRM has not been able to locate any supporting paperwork.

Mr Ashby was also given three contracts without alternative quotes being sought. In two cases, for contracts worth £500 and £250, the NRM said he was appointed because the museum needed someone at short notice and Mr Ashby was available. In the other, worth £550, a painter was needed when in-house provision could not complete another contractor’s work.

The NRM said Mr Ashby provided a quote and was given the work though no explanation for the lack of alternatives was provided.

The museum has 14 approved contractors to seek quotes from. Mr Ashby received seven of 40 contracts awarded over the past five years, equating to one in six.

The information was provided following freedom of information (FOI) requests but the museum said checking which contracts Mr Ashby had quoted for but not been awarded would take too long under the terms of the FOI Act.

“There are no formal qualifications available for the specialist work that Mr Ashby has undertaken for the museum,” it added. “However, Mr Ashby has been a volunteer at the Museum for over 35 years and in that time has worked closely with the National Collection.

“He has knowledge and experience of individual vehicles and the work involved in conserving them and is able to apply this when contracted by the museum in his capacity of a painter and decorator.

“This knowledge has been applied particularly in the field of coach painting, which requires considerable practice and experience to ensure that the work is done properly.”