Negligence tag removed from Iceland councils
Author: Local Government Chronicle |
The Audit Commission has retracted its accusation of negligence levelled at seven local authorities for depositing funds in Icelandic banks shortly before they crashed.
The climbdown follows two of the councils, Kent CC and Havering LBC, threatening legal action over the allegation.
In its original report, Risk and Return, the commission said in March the seven “negligently deposited money after credit ratings for Icelandic banks were downgraded below acceptable levels”.
The rewritten Risk and Return has the word “negligently” removed but maintains that councils failed to take “reasonable steps to ensure they were using up to date information”.