The Office for Local Government reports that financial challenges faced by councils in England, result from poor governance, not lack of funds. The Times has the story.
Lord Morse, Chairman of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), said he could say “quite definitely” that all councils in special measures had failures in governance that were primarily responsible for their budgetary shortfalls.
He added that although he had listened “respectfully” to the sector’s concerns about money, there was “a lot to be done” to improve the way in which councils managed their finances to prevent them from getting into difficulties.
Last month, Nottingham became the sixth council in three years to effectively declare itself bankrupt as there were warnings that inflation and growing demands for services had left up to half of local authorities at “breaking point”.
John Fuller, the Conservative leader of South Norfolk District Council and a member of the Local Government Association (LGA), told MPs that the sector was at an “inflection point”. He said: “There is a general understanding that, if not this year, next year about half of the authorities will be in [financial] distress. That is a significant number.” The sector has called on more support from the Government.
However, Morse, a former head of the National Audit Office, which scrutinises central government finances, said councils needed to ensure that they were well run rather than blaming a lack of money for their problems.
“All of the failures that we’ve seen so far; all of the authorities that are in special measures are not primarily attributable to a shortage of money – they’re to do with failures in management or failures in governance,” he said.
“I really can say that quite definitely. So, while I listen respectfully to the concerns about money, and I’m not surprised that people feel that way, our actual experience is there’s a lot to be done in improving the quality of management and oversight.”
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.