A change to how county council money is moved around is a blow to accountability, councillors claim.
Lincolnshire County Council officers will be able to move large sums of money around without needing permission from elected officials, under a change agreed on Friday (December 19), writes local democracy reporter Jamie Waller.
Previously, transfers of up to £250,000 needed the approval of the relevant executive councillor and required a public report.
Under the new constitution, reallocation of budgets (technically known as ‘virements’) could be done by the chief officer for a department with the Section 151 officer.
Opposition councillors said the original rules prevented any potential misuse and increased transparency, although Reform said the change wouldn’t make a difference.
A cross-party effort to stop the change failed at the full council meeting on Friday.
Conservative Councillor Martin Hill, who served as leader of the council for 20 years, said: “It’s important that officers have the ability to move money about, but not without the involvement of [elected] members.
“Its very important there’s formal oversight, and there should be a public record of it.
“Multiple transfers of £250,000 could be made and no one would know.
“This isn’t to fetter officers, just to ensure they publicly report what’s going on. It’s the right thing for accountability.”
Conservative Councillor Richard Davies said the rule prevented officers from making finances appear better than they are.
“This sounds dry and technical, but is actually really important,” he told the meeting.
“There’s a great team at the council, and there’s no suspicion that there would be any wrongdoing.
“The current rules means that if anyone wants to smooth over a problem, they need to have a conversation with the executive first.”
In response, Reform Councillor Tom Catton, the executive councillor for resources, said: “I have to disagree with that, it hasn’t changed.
“[The change] has been through the audit committee. It improves transparency and accountability to officers in charge of those areas.”
