COUNCIL’S AUDITOR DEMANDS THAT HIS CRITICISM OF THE ACCOUNTS IS DEBATED AT FULL COUNCIL

As predicted by the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative-controlled county council has received a humiliating rebuke from its auditor over the state of its account who has used his powers under the Audit Commission Act 1998 to issue a rare ‘Section 11’ notice, normally reserved for ‘basket case’ councils.

In it he says

• the council needs to make sure there are adequate resources and skills in place to support the preparation of accounts

• the production of working papers needs to be improved so that they are available at the start of the audit

• officials need to quality check its financial statements and supporting documents before they are sent to committee

• additional training needs to be made available for staff

• report regularly to members about how the production of financial statements is proceeding

Audit Committee Spokesperson Paul Goggins said: ‘This is a shocking indictment of a once well thought of council. I never thought I would see the day when a section 11 notice was served on Hertfordshire. It will be an interesting debate at council later this month.’