Council receives KPMG report
Published Tuesday 2nd March 10
Cheltenham Borough Council has today received a report from its auditors, KPMG, looking at the decisions taken prior to and during the recent high court action against its former managing director.
The report highlights some key areas where the council could have improved decision making in the long lead up to the court case. It also acknowledges that even if all these improvements had been fully in place at the council, it may still have decided to pursue the action through the court, and that court action in these circumstances is not unreasonable.
Andrew North, chief executive said: "This is a helpful report. We have supported it each step of the way, as we are aware that it covers an issue of significant interest to the people of Cheltenham. Of course there are lessons that we have learnt from this case and in recent years, as KPMG have recognised, we have made considerable improvements to the way we do things. This has been reflected in a recent audit commission review of our management of resources and performance, when we were one of the few councils to score as high as three out of four, which is a very good result.''
On 22 March, at a meeting called for this purpose, full council will carefully consider the report and determine what action it will take in response to the KPMG recommendations. As with all full council meetings, members of the public are welcome to attend and can submit any public questions.
Councillor Andrew Wall, chair of the audit committee said: "The council needs to decide its response to the report and come up with a set of actions. I don't want the council to be in this position again. The audit committee will be making sure that these actions are implemented. It is essential that the council follows its processes and that these processes are the best they can be."
Councillor Steve Jordan, leader of the council said: ''This is going in tandem with work of the cross-party working group which the council set up specifically to review any lessons learned. Their conclusion will also be reported at the same meeting.''
Read the KPMG report here. It's also available from: Audit Commission's website; and the main reception at the Municipal Offices, where a display copy will also be available to view.
Public questions
Questions related to the business of this meeting must be submitted in writing or by email (rosalind.reeves@cheltenham.gov.uk) by 10 am on the fifth working day before the day of the meeting (Monday 15 March). Answers will be given at the meeting where possible or in writing at a later date.