New financial controls before the merger, with two important exclusions
The July direction adds consent requirements for covered councils. Woking and Spelthorne remain under existing intervention arrangements.
- Event
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- Last reviewed
An additional consent requirement
From 8 July, the councils covered by the government’s direction need shadow-authority consent for specified land disposals and contracts. The direction contains thresholds, cumulative-value rules and provision for general consents; it is not a blanket ban on spending.
Woking and Spelthorne are excluded
The explanatory note says the direction does not apply to those two borough councils because commissioners already exercise intervention functions. Describing it as a new approval requirement for every Woking transaction would therefore be misleading.
What to watch
Our assessment: scrutiny should follow actual consent decisions, any conditions and the obligations being passed to the successor councils. The existence of a control is not evidence that every future commitment will be affordable.
This direction uses section 24 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. It should not be confused with the separate audit legislation behind a public interest report.
Article history
First published.