Account books pass inspection
AUDITORS have given the city council a clean bill of health but warned tougher times and even more multi-million pound budget cuts lie ahead.
Finance leaders at Stoke-on-Trent City Council have been praised for balancing the authority's books despite £36 million spending cuts following a £378,000 audit of accounts for the 2011/12 financial year.
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BUDGET: Auditors praised Stoke-on-Trent city council.
The Audit Commission has also lifted warnings on the way the council buys goods and services for the first time in several years, indicating that officers are finally tackling long-standing inefficiencies in council procurement.
District auditor Mark Stocks said he is satisfied the council is achieving "economy, efficiency and effectiveness" in its efforts to cope with rapidly-shrinking resources.
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His conclusion looks at the way taxpayers' money is spent but does not pass any judgement on political decisions about how it is spent.
Finance leaders and Mr Stocks warned the task of staying within budget is to become increasingly difficult as cash cuts continue to escalate.
Audited accounts for the financial year show:
Departments overseeing children's services and adults' services, including social care, both underspent by more than £3 million using a recruitment freeze and 'essential only' spending policy. Cash was used to help pay for redundancies;
The authority's budget for housing overspent by £314,000, largely due to a repair programme ordered by consultants to reduce concerns about long-term costs;
Long-term debts built up through council loans for major projects now top £304 million, which is below the council's borrowing limit but set to soar because of plans to build a new Civic Centre in Hanley.
Members of the authority's audit committee yesterday welcomed the verdict but challenged departments to deliver more under-spends to help cope with budget cuts.
Peter Bates, the council's assistant director of finance, warned of a "tough decade" as cuts continue.
He said: "We did extremely well to take out £36 million but also maintain the vast majority of services.
"We are trying to deliver under-spends to give members more flexibility for the next financial settlement because everything is indicating that it will not be good."
Mr Stocks added: "You can't always guarantee that savings plans will come to fruition in time.
"Funding from central Government is becoming less."
Councillor Andy Platt, cabinet member for city services and green enterprises, said: "We should expect under-spends. It's about doing the same, but better, and for less money.
"It is very positive, we should be shouting about this. Considering just four or five years ago things were in dire straits."
Deputy leader Paul Shotton said: "We are quick to criticise officers when things don't go right but in this case it's congratulations."
Comments
by fegghayesman
Monday, October 01 2012, 2:36PM
“We aren't speaking about the average council employee, we're talking about the thieving gits at the top of the tree that take golden goodbyes when they caught doing something crooked, or the fatcats at the top that will take hundreds of thousands.
But in the real world, people buy their own pensions, I don't see why the city council should be an exception to that.”
by mole10
Monday, October 01 2012, 2:35PM
“Andy Platt: 'Thatcher's child'.
10/10”
by daley74
Monday, October 01 2012, 10:56AM
“Fegghayesman - do you make it a career to spout drivel? The average public sector pension is £7,000 per year. So in what sense are public sector pensions gold-plated exactly, especially when compared with bankers bonuses of hundreds of thousands of pounds?”
by killaspam
Sunday, September 30 2012, 8:14PM
“Hhhhhmmmmm the councils books passed the audit right ok is this a joke is it april the 1st who did the audit the stevie wonder fan club, this council is as bent as a ten bob note and we all know it, just one question the vale saga money written off and the 40 mil for the new council offices in hanley where the money coming from "under pervez mattress"”
by meirhayflyer
Sunday, September 30 2012, 4:35PM
“maybe if they underspent our money we could get a rebate on our council tax as surely that short fall is our money? oh i living in la la land. all this council will do is increase salaries and employ more consultants. Next thig to come out of council will be wesaving money by adpoting lean managemnt or six sigma policies. Only failing enties start using them and they cost a bomb in consultant fees”
by Alberus
Sunday, September 30 2012, 4:21PM
“Hold on a minute, this is amazing news about auditors signing off the City's accounts. That's more than can be said for those of the EU, whose auditors persistently refuse to give the OK on that august organisation's books, for the very good reason they're more bent than a nine bob note. Could be a few smug people strutting around the City corridors of power?”
by gormhenghast
Sunday, September 30 2012, 9:40AM
“@ Andy Platt
"Councillor Andy Platt, cabinet member for city services and green enterprises, said: "We should expect under-spends. It's about doing the same, but better, and for less money.
Have you heard yourself, Thatchers child, start by trimming the top, and the hangers on then look at efficiencies, but coming from a History of allowing the scrapping of performance related pay across all trades for a get rich quick do nothing for a day rate system to degenerate into hiving off the cream of the work to "friends" at an extortionate cost, you have to be seriously flawed and speaking tongue in cheek. This must be like Corporate self harm.
And still the electorate watch on with stunned amazement at pay-offs and salary hikes, its like watching the City die of Cancer, and the hoards of vermin picking over the corpse, when are you Councillors going to do something to get it right, you can start by rescinding the status of the authority and return to the County where at least there is a modicum of Management ability and some half decent Councillors.”
by spudder56
Saturday, September 29 2012, 3:36PM
“auditors !! Just more snouts in the trough !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All funded by the taxpayer to make a bad situation even worse”
by fegghayesman
Saturday, September 29 2012, 10:19AM
“I wouldn't mind so much if these people were competent. My friend Sam discovered a bank account the city council didn't know it had, and there was £12 million in it!
The financial system is an absolute maze, there is money all over the place, and we have no idea as to the real figures, it's hardly surprising there are so many thieving gits in the place.”
by papalazaroo
Saturday, September 29 2012, 7:41AM
“This is the problem, obsession with making the books balance is wreaking this city. The city is run by accountants who, bless em, generally have no vision or imagination short of how their spreadsheet should be formatted”