Stewardship of public funds is a crucial responsibility of local council officials. Managing public funds brings with it responsibilities that are not less onerous than those of the management of a business organisation that holds itself accountable to private shareholders. The community of a locality served by a local council expects good value for the tax money it contributes to the running of their local government. The National Audit Office has just published its Report on the Workings of Local Government for 2021. The headline conclusion of this report is that only 30 per cent of the councils submitted their audited accounts by the established deadline of the end of June. This may seem a minor technical shortcoming as the logistics of preparing annual accounts are often disrupted by delays in the input needed from auditors and council officials. But the auditor general, Charles Deguara, described the situation as “alarming” and a serious cause for concern. An end-of-June deadline is reasonable. This lack of compliance should not be taken lightly by the government department that oversees the governance of local councils. The auditor general notes with satisfaction “the...
↧