Lawyers raise alarm at struggle to tackle UK local government corruption
Lawyers raise alarm at struggle to tackle UK local government corruption
Exclusive: staff and councillors at 36 local authorities accused of financial crime in past decade with dozens arrested and convicted
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Many other councils are being scrutinised for potential financial mismanagement leading to huge losses in councils funds. One of those is Thurrock council, found to have recklessly put hundreds of millions of pounds into commercial investments, where an accountant is being investigated by the Financial Reporting Council.
They should come to Bristol and see how it's done. We're able to lose millions, devalue public services, close libraries, shut down public swimming pools, get bungs from building contractor companies in exchange for contracts, refuse a record number of freedom of information requests from the public, ban journalists from council meetings, and still get reelected!
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Really not surprising at all tbh.
I am currently reading 'How Westminster Works' & it's nothing short of eye opening of the ineptness of all the politicians and the current system.
I highly recommend it.
Nice 👍 I'll give them a read.
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But here's the thing, afaik, those councils were encouraged to make those investments by central government. They may even have been heavily pressured to do so.
Whether there was pressure for any particular investments, I can't easily tell. But I'm fairly certain that if you suggest to local authority administrators who have as much knowledge as anyone else about it, ie fuck all, that to increase your budget you should invest it, they will make terrible investments and it will end in tears.
And this makes everything even more depressing. Why are people who don't understand investments investing so recklessly with our money? I just want decent boring bog standard council services to run well and efficiently.
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As you mentioned the d word
Decent?
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Yes, this is the thing Manny fails to understand. While local government behaves a certain way, often it is dictated by policy from the government in Westminster, such that if they didn't behave that way they wouldn't get the meager funding they do have.
I'm sure Bristol council are corrupt, but not much more so than others. Meanwhile, the biggest corruption comes from Westminster.
But hey, Bristol aren't Tory, so Manny will criticise them first.
Sack the fucking lot of them, I say.