Accountable local government is the way forward – Poots

Environment Minister Edwin Poots has highlighted that local government reform will make council members more accountable.

The Minister was speaking today as he announced his intention to remove the local government auditors’ powers to surcharge.

'Surcharge' is the term used to describe the powers of local government auditors to recover monies from individuals whose actions have caused losses to their councils. This could be as a result of misconduct or if they were responsible for their councils incurring unlawful expenditure.

These 'surcharge' powers were dispensed with in England some time ago and the Head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office has requested their removal as they no longer serve a useful purpose in Northern Ireland.

With the new councils taking effect in May 2011, the Minister said he was determined to remove any powers that are no longer relevant.

He said: "The enhanced corporate governance that local government has, and the ability of auditors to publish public interest reports, render the surcharge powers largely ineffective.

"The forthcoming Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill, that will bring the new councils into operation, will remove these powers. The Bill will also provide for a new ethical standards framework for local government, including a mandatory Code of Conduct for councillors. Any alleged breaches of the Code will be investigated and appropriate sanctions will be imposed on members who are found to have breached the Code.”

Notes to editors:

1. The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (C&AG) is head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) which was established by the Audit (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. The staff of the Northern Ireland Audit Office includes local government auditors.
2. Local government auditors have the power under Article 9 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 to make reports on any matters coming to their notice during the course of any audits and to bring those matters to the attention of the public.
3. The power to surcharge is contained in Articles 19 and 20 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005.
4. Subject to agreement of the Executive, the Department of the Environment expects to commence consultation on its proposals for the Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill before the end of the year.
5. All media enquiries should be directed to the DOE Press Office on 028 9054 0003. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.