By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
One case where auditors claimed Nottinghamshire county councillors failed to declare outside interests and work was actually a case of mistaken identity, the authority has said.
Local government auditor Grant Thornton has published a report detailing its review of the Conservative-run council’s accounts for 2022 to 2023.
The auditor says it found 10 instances of “incomplete declarations of interests” by members.
However, the authority says one instance has been found to be a completely different person, with auditors confusing a Bolton company director with a Nottinghamshire councillor of the same name.
Some others related to companies which were “dormant, no longer active, in liquidation or do not operate in Nottinghamshire”.
The auditor didn’t disclose the names of the individuals.
It had previously identified several undisclosed interests in its 2021/22 audit, and said the council should strengthen its declaration process.
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “At the meeting of the Governance and Ethics Committee on 28 February, two reports were considered from the external auditors signing off the Council’s final accounts for 2022/23.
“As part of the process of validating the accounts, the external auditors compared entries on the council’s Register of Declaration of Interests, maintained as required by the Localism Act and relevant regulations, with entries on the national register held at Companies House.
“This generated a small number of queries which individual councillors and the council have already responded to and clarified the position and, if appropriate, councillors have reflected this in their individual declarations on the register.
“There were two queries where the entries registered at Companies House and the council’s register were described differently.
“In one case the external auditors identified a director of a company in Bolton on the records at Companies House with the same name as a Nottinghamshire county councillor, but it was an entirely different person unrelated to the council.
“Other queries related to organisations where the council has itself nominated a councillor to sit on the outside body as the county council’s representative.
“The remaining queries related to organisations which are dormant, no longer active, in liquidation or do not operate in Nottinghamshire.
“The issues raised related to the requirements of accounting standards and the process of preparing the council’s accounts rather than a matter of failure to declare interests.
“The council adopted a new Code of Conduct in May 2023 and reviewed the process and form for disclosures shortly afterwards.
“Members are required by the council to amend their declaration if their circumstances change and review their declarations on an annual basis, which will next take place following the council’s Annual General Meeting in May 2024.
“At the meeting, the council’s external auditor confirmed that they have now signed off the Council’s final accounts for 2022/23 with no qualifications.”
Other issues found by the auditor included the write-off of a £130,000 loan made to a charitable trust which had entered liquidation, where a member of the council sat as the trust chairman.
