News Roundup: Right to Buy receipts, Cambridgeshire’s accounts, LGPS framework, anti-fraud tender, devolution trap

Haringey to return Right to Buy receipts
London Borough of Haringey says it is being forced to return all receipts to government from sales of council homes under Right to Buy due to the cap on its housing revenue account. Rules stop councils using the receipts to pay for more than 30% of a replacement home, and the council says that it cannot afford to pay the remaining 70% without going over its HRA cap.

Auditors identify £143m black hole in council accounts
An accounting blunder has left a gap of £143m in the accounts of Cambridgeshire County Council. Auditors PwC were only able to identify £46m worth of assets under construction, although £189m was listed in the authority’s accounts for 2014/15. The auditors said that the balance would need to be adjusted in a prior period adjustment, which may need to be treated as an impairment.

New LGPS framework under preparation
Norfolk County Council is drawing up a framework to help Local Government Pension Funds access environmental, social and governance (ESG) services. It is preparing a framework covering areas including proxy voting, ESG data metrics and other advice, according to IPE.com. The framework is the latest being undertaken by the National LGPS Frameworks project.

Anti-fraud tender launched
The London Borough of Ealing has launched a tender to find a supplier for a pan-London data analytics and investigation hub aimed at detecting and preventing fraud. It is expected that the hub will integrate with the datasets of the participating authorities, with the contract awarded on a payment-by-results commercial basis.

Trickett warns over ‘devolution trap’
Shadow local government secretary Jon Trickett has warned that the government’s devolution agenda may be a trick to attack local democracy. Speaking at the Labour party conference in Brighton, he said: “The chancellor’s crooked smile when he offers devolution betrays his intention to hand over responsibility for the cuts to councillors in order to avoid the blame falling on himself. Councils are on the edge of a financial precipice – they may achieve what Thatcher never did. The very principle of local democracy is in peril.”