Prior to 2000 a local government officer or councillor in the United Kingdom, who had unlawfully spent public funds, or caused loss to a local authority through misconduct could be surcharged to recover public money. The surcharge was applied, after referral to a court by the Audit Commission. In the case of an illegal corporate decision by an elected body, all the councillors could be surcharged. Councillors from

Lambeth London Borough Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

and

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

who were involved in the

rate-capping rebellion The rate-capping rebellion was a campaign within English local councils in 1985 which aimed to force the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher to withdraw powers to restrict the spending of councils. The affected councils were almost all r ...

in 1985 were surcharged. Councillors in the 1973 Clay Cross Urban District Council Housing Finance Act dispute were surcharged £685 (this is equivalent to £ today) for refusing to increase housing rent. The

Committee on Standards in Public Life The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government, established by John Major in 1994 to advise the Prime Minister on ethical standards of public life. It promotes a code ...

recommended repealing surcharge because it was unfair for local government officers and councillors, and "bore no relation to people's ability to pay or their culpability". The

Local Government Act 2000 The Local Government Act 2000 (c.22) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales. Its principal purposes are: * to give powers to local authorities to promote economic, social and envir ...

amended the

Audit Commission Act 1998 The Audit Commission was a statutory corporation in the United Kingdom. The commission's primary objective was to appoint auditors to a range of local public bodies in England, set the standards for auditors and oversee their work. The commissi ...

to remove the ability of the Audit Commission or Secretary or State to recover financial losses from individuals. Instead they would be subject to normal sanctions determined by the Standards Board and Adjudication Panel. Following the Tribunal Review such sanctions are now dealt with by the General Regulatory Chamber of the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is part of the courts and tribunals service of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has sinc ...

References

External links

Audit Commission website
Commission {{UK-gov-stub

See also

References

External links