By Jaimie Kaffash
10 September 2010
The cost of abolishing the council standards watchdog could
be more than two and a half times its annual budget, Public Finance has been told.
Standardsfor England – previously called the Standards Board for England – investigates
complaints against local authorities that the councils themselves are unable to
examine. These include complex cases and those involving chief executives and members
of councils’ internal standards committees.
The government announced in May that the quango would be
abolished as part of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill.
The board’s grant from the Department for Communities andLocal Government is just over £6m this financial year. However, the costs
of scrapping it could be more than £15m, the Publicand Commercial Services union is claiming.
The PCS says the winding-up costs are high because the quango
has pension liabilities of £5.8m. As it is an admitted member of the Greater
Manchester Pension Fund, part of the Local Government Pension Fund, the
liabilities must be paid off when the SfE is abolished – unlike for bodies covered
by central government pension schemes. As the board will remain a going concern
until the legislation is enacted, this figure is likely to rise.
This cost is in addition to redundancy payouts to the
board’s 62 staff, the depreciation of its assets and the usual costs of
abolishing a public body.
A PCS spokesman said that the board’s functions would have
to be transferred elsewhere at a cost.
‘If it's abolished, will councils investigate their own
cases where they are conflicted in this way?’ he asked. ‘If another body does
it, how exactly will this save money?’
He added that the idea of neighbouring local authorities
taking these complaints on, or aiding with complex cases, would put more strain
on councils, which are already under pressure. Furthermore, the SfE is
responsible for giving advice to local authority staff. ‘Again, if someone else
does it, where are the savings?’ the spokesman said.
A Standards for England spokeswoman told PF: ‘It is not possible to quantify all
of these costs exactly at this moment as they depend on a number of factors but
we will be discussing them with the DCLG when we consider our funding
allocation for next year.’
Announcing the abolition of the quango in May, local
government minister Bob Neill said: ‘Rather than improving standards in local
government, the Standards Board regime has undermined them by fuelling
frivolous and malicious complaints. It has damaged the reputation of councils
and undermined public confidence in local democracy.’
