Mecky Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Don't tell me, the programme was commission by the government in a vain attempt to persuade pubic opinion to accept these economically restrictive cuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Do you not think councils waste money, Mecky? Do you think the amount of council tax we pay is reasonable given the level of service we recieve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Sarah Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Don't tell me, the programme was commission by the government in a vain attempt to persuade pubic opinion to accept these economically restrictive cuts? Thats an odd post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawny1970 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Do you not think councils waste money, Mecky? Do you think the amount of council tax we pay is reasonable given the level of service we recieve? yes they do waste momey, no we dont get reasonable service, answer your question? Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenRivers Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Who audits councils, or council departments? Is there an independent auditor or published accounts that can be made public and threaten a council's future if they are found to be wasting money? We all know it's a problem, so how can it be solved? Not sure if auditors only confirm that money is correctly accounted for and contracts correctly procured, they won't make a judgment call on whether a motivational juggler earning £40,000 is a good use of money. There is a mechanism to challange wasteful spend and actually get it charged to the elected councillors so they are liable, though for the life of me I can't remember what it's called, it has a specific name. EDIT Just remembered it's called surcharge. Councillors can be surcharged if they have grossly mismanaged public funds. More surcharging please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Who audits councils, or council departments? Is there an independent auditor or published accounts that can be made public and threaten a council's future if they are found to be wasting money? We all know it's a problem, so how can it be solved? Up until recently the Audit Commission audited Local Authority accounts. There is a section in the governance report on value for money. AFAIK the Audit Commision has been abolished and Councils accounts will be audit by the big accountancy firms that audit the private sector. For example, Sheffield's accounts and governance report can be found on this page; https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/finance/statement-of-accounts.html Councils are also required report all payments to suppliers / organisations over £250. Again, to use Sheffield as an example, they can be found on this page; https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/finance/supplier-payments.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairyloon Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 For example, Sheffield's accounts and governance report can be found on this page; https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/finance/statement-of-accounts.html... Read 'em carefully and be wary of what they don't say... I concluded that you have made proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in your use of resources... This is not saying that they actually have secured economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Read 'em carefully and be wary of what they don't say... This is not saying that they actually have secured economy, efficiency and effectiveness. True - auditors choose their words carefully and are pretty non-commital - they do say on the first page of the report that; "The Council successfully delivered over £77m of savings in 2011/12, and further savings of £55m are budgeted for 2012/13." I think we can safely say that; 1) Councils do publish accounts (and they are available to anyone with an internet connection). 2) Accounts are independently audited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairyloon Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I think we can safely say that; 1) Councils do publish accounts (and they are available to anyone with an internet connection). 2) Accounts are independently audited. Is that the same sort of independent that the police, press and government were recently shown up to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Is that the same sort of independent that the police, press and government were recently shown up to be? Question does not compute. I think we can safely say for example that the Murdoch press is independent of government. The police have never been "independent" and always answerable to government, central and local. Or are you trying to start some sort of conspiracy theory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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