Councils in England are starting to fall behind in reporting how they spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money because of mistakes and staff shortages following cuts imposed by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
The Government’s cuts to back office staff are starting to bite in a number of big councils which have missed their auditing deadlines by four months or more – including, ironically, the town represented by Mr Pickles, Brentwood in Essex.
A report by the Audit Commission – itself scheduled for abolition by Mr Pickles – reveals that 12 councils have still not issued final accounts for the last financial year.
These include some of the biggest councils in England – such as Birmingham, Newcastle and Norwich – as well boroughs like Brentwood, Corby, Mole Valley, Huntingdonshire, Runnymede and Thurrock as well as the Broads Authority, Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority and West London Waste Authority.
Merseyside and Huntingdonshire did not have enough staff to do the audit properly, nor did a number of other authorities which reported up to three months late, including Wellingborough, the London borough of Brent and the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland combined fire authority.
Many authorities could not publish accounts on time because they were full of errors and mistakes, including Brentwood and Birmingham, Newcastle and Norwich.
The disclosure was balanced by three councils which published their accounts early – including Kent, the London borough of Greenwich and Oldham.
The report says: “The number of bodies where the auditor reported material misstatements requiring adjustment increased significantly for 2010/11.”
The Commission also condemns the lack of a proper audit at some parish councils – an area often overlooked but singled out by Mr Pickles for light touch financial checks – as part of his cost cutting exercise. The Commission points out that the nearly 9,500 parish councils spend £500 million a year between them.
Among the most disturbing findings are that 14 parish councils have failed to disclose any accounts for three years or more – even though they are levying a precept on all households in their area.
The Audit Commission said: “Local electors are entitled to see how their parish council has spent taxpayers’ money. Parish councils that fail to publish an audited annual return are not providing this most basic level of accountability.”
Parish councils in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Suffolk, Dorset, Cumbria and Lancashire were slated. The worst was Fillingham in Lincolnshire which has produced no accounts for 10 years.
Some 133 parish councils have produced inaccurate accounts for the past three years – suggesting, the Commission says, “systemic weaknesses in their financial management and governance arrangements”.
