COUNCILLOR LAIBILITY

Question

If it is proved that a council had acted ultra vires can Councillors be held personally responsible to make good the money spent ?  Are there any precedents ?

Answer 1

The system of surcharging individual councillors was removed when the code of conduct was introduced in ??? - can't quite remember the date.

Beware though - if it can be proved can be proved that councillor(s) have behaved recklessly then they may not be out of the wood completely.  Behaving recklessly means you know it was wrong, you were advised that it was wrong and your actions were unreasonable - and you still went ahead.

Answer 2

Unless the ultra vires amounted to a criminal offence, the answer is probably no.  The govt have resisted calls for the scope of the local government ombudsman to be extended to handle reports of legislative non compliance of  about town and parish councils. The external auditor can be informed and could potentially name specific councillors but cannot take action, only urge councils to take corrective action.