Shropshire Council staff told to make sure public money is spent wisely or risk disciplinary action

In a Corporate Peer Challenge Report, officers from the Local Government Association made 10 recommendations after visiting the council in July.

This focussed on financial management and strategy, culture and values, governance, strategic direction, and sustainability planning.

Recommendations included implementing an independently chaired Improvement Board, as well as a Statutory Officers Board.

Feeding into the Improvement Board is the People Board, set up to ensure staff feel comfortable and are proud to work at the organisation.

However, they have been reminded about complying with the council’s constitution, policies and procedures.

Ahead of an Audit & Governance Committee meeting on November 27, Tanya Miles, Shropshire Council’s interim chief executive, has shared a letter she sent to all staff on October 8.

She had written: “It is never more important to ensure that the council’s money is managed effectively and that we can be sure we achieve value for money from every pound.”

“We have things in place to help you achieve this which are generally easy and common sense to apply, there’s just a need to make sure you’re abreast of them,” said Ms Miles.

“Working in local government means we all need to be able to demonstrate that we are using public funds wisely to ensure fairness, maintain public trust and achieve value for money.

“The constitution and policies that members approve help us to do that and enable us to be open and honest in our decision-making processes. Where we don’t follow our own processes and policies, we open ourselves up to criticism and challenge which can erode public trust.”

Ms Miles asked all managers to ensure their teams were aware of the requirements, adding that they were not optional.

The letter, which was co-signed by James Walton, the Section 151 officer who is responsible for the financial management of the company; and Tim Collard, the monitoring officer and head of legal services, highlighted three key areas:

Financial rules

“To conduct its business efficiently, the council needs to ensure that it has sound financial management policies in place and that they are strictly adhered to,” said Ms Miles.

“This demonstrates to the public that proper safeguards and controls exist in relation to managing public money and assets.”

Ms Miles added that the five areas covered are: financial management and control, financial planning, risk management and control of resources, systems and procedures, and external arranagements.

Contract procedure rules

These explain how goods, works and services must be procured.

“All officers, consultants and any third party acting on behalf of the council must follow these contract procedure rules,” said Ms Miles.

The aims of these contract procedure rules are to:

• Ensure compliance with all legal requirements, including that contracts are awarded fairly and that all potential bidders are treated equally

• Achieve value for money

• Ensure transparency, openness, non-discrimination and fair competition

• Demonstrate probity, consistency, accountability and integrity

• Support the council’s corporate and departmental aims

• Protect officers

• Ensure compliance with the council’s commissioning and procurement strategy

Information security policies

Staff were reminded of the need to ensure the responsible use of council systems, electronic equipment and information.

Ms Miles highlighted the recent addition of an artificial intelligence (AI) policy following the implementation of Microsoft Copilot, adding that a document is available which governs the way that the council uses and manages AI-derived content. She also reminded staff of the proceduces to follow if they become aware of an information security incident.

“I am clear that these rules are not optional but a requirement of all of us as we undertake our day-to-day activity. I have instructed service directors to ensure that these are complied with and to take appropriate action if they are not.

“Failure to comply with these rules could result in disciplinary action being taken.”