Tories undermine new audit committee

Opposition whistleblowers have hit out at the Tories' decision to hobble the council's new audit committee.

Labour finance spokesman Councillor Richard Greenhill said:

"It is outrageous that the Tories are boasting about setting up this new body, because Labour councillors have been demanding an independent audit committee for years and the Conservatives always refused to act.

"Even now, the Tories are shamelessly breaching national guidance by refusing to give the new committee responsibility for fraud and corruption reporting.

"The unanswered questions are: why has the council waited until now, and why have they hampered the new committee by denying it full powers?"

These are the powers that national guidance says audit committees should have, but which the Tories have blocked in Broxbourne:

• to monitor council policies on confidential reporting and the anti-fraud and anti-corruption strategy and the council's complaints process
• to monitor and maintain the council's constitution in respect of contract procedure rules, financial regulations and codes of conduct and behaviour (except matters covered by the Standards Committee)
• to monitor the effective development and operation of risk management and corporate governance in the council
• to oversee the production of the council's annual governance statement and monitor progress on any issues
• to consider the council's arrangements for corporate governance and any necessary actions to ensure compliance with best practice
• to consider the council's compliance with its own and other published standards and controls.

Report filed 01/11/2010

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