Conservative administration's £633K accounting error

Brentwood Council's Audit Commission report has discovered that the council made a £633,000 mistake in their books, leaving the council to assume it was £180,000 in deficit when it was actually £453,000 in the black.

Leader Cllr David Kendall said:

"I lay the blame on the Conservative administration.

To mislay £633,000 when the finances are supposed to be tight seems a case of total financial mismanagement. It leads to a lot of questions that need answering."

The Audit Commission report states: "the lack of robust planning is a contributory cause to the financial challenges facing the council" and that "Brentwood has inadequate arrangements in place for production of the annual statement of accounts."