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.’

As budget cuts loom, the Liberal Democrats have called for assurances that there will be no feather bedding for Hertfordshire county councillors.

Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader Chris White said: ‘Councillor allowances will have to be looked at alongside all other savings. But there are some quick wins which could be implemented straightaway.

‘For instance county councillors receive a three course lunch on county council days. This does not really help county councillors do their business and actually wastes time. But more importantly it costs £5,000 a year. This could be abolished now.

‘Likewise other spending on hospitality – from the Chairman’s bar to the Chairman’s garden party – could be pared right back.

‘On top of all this the county council is spending £46,000 on press releases advertising the fact that a county councillor has made a donation to a local group. Any decent county councillor can advertise that sort of thing (if it really needs advertising) him or herself. It would also improve the credibility of the county council which is now boring the local press with dozens of pointless press releases.’

The county council’s spin machine has been at it again.

An almost laughably misleading press release has been issued which pretends that there is nothing wrong with the county council’s accounts – just days from when the District Auditor is expected to be issuing a Section 11 notice.

Leader of the Opposition Chris White said: ‘This is a serious misuse of public resources – which are not supposed to be spent on Tory Party propaganda. I have complained formally to the council’s Chief Monitoring officer and to the Audit Commission.

‘The council must withdraw this press release without delay.’

ENDS

Notes

The offending press release is number 10386

The Audit Committee of Hertfordshire County Council, which met today, heard further concerns from the external Auditor about the council’s failure to provide accurate accounts even on what is already a postponed date. The reason for the further delay is that errors are still being uncovered: at today’s meeting the auditor and county council staff were till tabling corrections.

The Auditor commented that the ‘cumulative error rate is close to “materiality” ‘: materiality is the trigger point at which an auditor will insist upon changes to the accounts before he is willing to sign a clean audit report. In the case of Hertfordshire County Council the Auditor estimates materiality to be £40 million ie 2% of the general fund.

He stated that a ‘Section 11’ report is merited – a rare event in local government which means that the Auditor’s concerns have to be debated at full council.

It is anticipated that the Section 11 report will be published shortly.

Paul Goggins, spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on audit matters, said: ‘I can only agree with the Chairman of the Committee who admitted ‘this was due to “significant weaknesses in the operation of the council”.’

This week Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats launched the ‘I love my Herts library’ campaign to try to save our library services. The Tory-run County Council have decided to make deep cuts in library opening hours and the mobile library service, in anticipation of the government spending review.

Library services are not just about books. Many users, both young and old, use the library as a safe place to go to. Libraries are even more important at a time where we have high unemployment, since they allow users access to resources to enable them to apply for jobs and keep their minds active. Parents who can no longer afford the study materials for their children are sending their children to the library.

Chris White, Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader, said: ‘Libraries are vital parts of our communities. They are not just places where people can borrow books. They are safe places to meet – and important places in which to study, for both young and old.

‘Had the Tories had heeded our advice the county council would have been able to make massive savings on overheads and waste in previous years. Even now, this has to be the one service which is not slashed.’

One young person said to us when told of the cuts: ‘The library is really important to me. I can do work away from my noisy sisters and my mum’s constant work calls, I also escape helping out sometimes. I use the library for college and school work, and the use of computers there is great too. I will miss being able to go so often.’

Libraries hours will be slashed by 1575 hours – nearly a third – and nearly half the mobile libraries are being scrapped. The equivalents of 120 full time staff will be made redundant, many of them front line staff.

Broxbourne is losing 66.5 hours meaning 3 new all day closures across 4 libraries
Dacorum is losing 79 hours meaning 5 new all day closures across 7 libraries
East Herts is losing 64 hours meaning 2 new all day closures across 5 libraries
Hertsmere is losing 88 hours meaning 4 new all day closures across 4 libraries
North Hertfordshire is losing 90 hours meaning 5 new all day closures across 5 libraries
St Albans is losing 65 hours meaning 5 new all day closures across 6 libraries
Stevenage is losing 18 hours meaning 1 new all day closure across 2 libraries
Three Rivers is losing 76 hours meaning 4 new all day closures across 5 libraries
Watford is losing 32 hours meaning 1 new all day closure across 2 libraries
Welwyn Hatfield is losing 80 hours meaning 4 new all day closures across 6 libraries

ENDS

Facebook Campaign http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-love-my-Herts-Library/154121131293259

Council paperwork http://www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/civic_calendar/csccp/16378430/

Petition against cuts www.sixtofix.co.uk left hand menu

With the Tories already looking to cut a quarter of their £22m spend on community wellbeing, prevention and housing related services the Liberal Democrats have pledged to defend vulnerable groups and scrutinise every line of the proposals.  Adult Care Services have already written to everyone of their voluntary and third sector providers to warn them that all contracts, big and small, will be renegotiated.

Allan Witherick, Liberal Democrat spokesman for Adult Care Services said: ‘We all know that cuts are needed because the last Government spent all the money but we have to be sure that the council isn’t making false economies.

‘Although this funding is discretionary and so up to the council, these groups were being funded for a reason.

‘In some cases people are being looked after directly and indirectly so don’t need further services from the council or the health service. But this is not always the case.

‘The Liberal Democrats will be looking at every proposal to try to get the best results for local residents.’

Note from the county council:

This is just to make you aware that St Albans Central library will be closing for a day on Wed 15 Sept to have replacement security gates installed. Unfortunately this is not a job which can be done while open as the work will block the entrance.

At this stage we don’t know exactly how long it will take, but if it finishes early enough we may be able to open for the evening

Cuts in social worker training, the budget for substance abuse, and the amount of money devoted to the voluntary sector to provide protection for children were all condemned today by the Liberal Democrats at county hall.

The Conservatives are proposing these cuts in response to in year grant reduction by the Coalition Government, despite the fact that many grants are no longer ring-fenced and so could be used to make up for the shortfalls.

Malcolm Cowan commented: ‘In a budget this size, it should not be difficult to find savings which would ensure that front line services are protected. A £210,000 cut in the voluntary sector could have a crippling effect on the very voluntary sector. This sector will be desperately needed as the county council faces up to the challenge of saving £150 million in its transformation programme.’.’
– Hide quoted text –

He added: ‘We also all know the possible outcomes when our social workers are not trained sufficiently, these are dangerous cuts. I can’t see how the Conservative Deputy Leader could say breezily “This is an easier cut than many”. Not for the voluntary sector it isn’t.’

The Liberal Democrats voted against the cuts package.

NOTES

Principal cuts opposed by the Liberal Democrats

1. Reduction in voluntary sector projects relating to Children’s Fund prevention grant: £210,000
2. Reduction in spending on young people’s substance misuse partnership: £36,000
3. Reduction of £70,000 in training of social workers.

Herts County Council staff have given a big vote of no confidence to the county council, according to a survey published this week. Only a third of staff responded, though the benchmark figure is half. This figure is up on last year.

Less than a third of those who responded think the council manages change effectively and another third thought the council set a good example. This is down 10% on last year. There was also a worsening in the situation regarding bullying and harassment: only half of staff felt they could report these incidences and only a quarter felt that these incidences were effectively dealt with by the council.

Cllr Chris White, Liberal Democrat Group Leader said: ‘This is seriously worrying. These are times that the council needs to make major changes and bring the staff along with it. There needs to be a radical rethink in how the council communicates with its staff and deals with their concerns. Otherwise the budget reductions needed to cope with the financial crisis inherited from the last government are going to be that much more difficult to deliver and front line services will be affected.’

Notes

Report to Policy and Resources Item 7 especially pages 4 and 5:
http://www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/civic_calendar/polrescp/15853786/

The Liberal Democrats have been counting the volume of press propaganda put out by the Tory controlled county council and said: ‘Enough!’

Lib Dem Leader Chris White said today: ‘The week before last there was a day on which the county council issued 13 press releases. Last week saw a day when it issued 11 press releases plus three bulletins.

‘At a time when the Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is calling for councils to stop advertising “useless jobs” it is staggering that the county council continues to deploy its staff on producing this unending stream of comment.

‘Last week we learned about a new map, about a £500 grant for cricket, about road resurfacing and about a burst water main. Most of these “news” snippets are sent out as full blown press releases, complete with a political comment from a Tory councillor, which local newspapers are expected to print.

‘The idea of having a decent website and just posting up a bulletin without taking the opportunity for a bit of political spin seems to escape them. Nor should the new county councillor locality budgets be used as a means of raising the profile of county councillors – effective local politicians are already well enough known without a leg up from the county communications unit. .

‘The council will shortly have to review its budget in the light of the Labour Government’s spending errors. We will be putting the propaganda budget as the high up the list of savings.’

ENDS