THE Public Interest Report issued to City of York Council this week is the local authority’s second in five years.

The reports are relatively rare for upper tier councils – since 2016 only four have been issued, to Nottingham City Council, London Borough of Croydon, Northampton Borough Council and this week City of York Council.

Auditors scrutinising councils’ yearly accounts publish Public Interest Reports when they find “a significant matter” that they want to bring to the attention of the public and council.

In 2016 York received a Public Interest Report over the way top council officers were paid thousands of pounds extra to run the authority’s trading company, City of York Trading.

In that report auditors Mazars did not dispute the legality of payments to council officers Pauline Stutchfield and Ian Floyd – but raised concerns over a lack of transparency and the risk of conflicts of interest. It said there were lessons to be learned and applied for the future.

Ian Floyd has since been promoted to the council’s top job, chief operating officer, following the departure of former chief executive Mary Weastell.

The handling of her departure is the subject of the latest Public Interest Report published on Monday.

Mazars make five recommendations:

– The council should adopt and apply appropriate standards for business case preparation in relation to exit and pension discretions to improve information supporting decisions

– Decision notes should be maintained that document the factors that explain the case for the use of public funds under the scheme of delegation such as where payments exceed contractual entitlements

– The council should review the design of its governance policies and procedures to manage conflicts of interest (including self-interest threats). This should include updating the council’s constitution and scheme of delegation

– The council should ensure all members fully understand the requirements of the code of conduct in relation to declaration of interests

– The council should review its policies and procedures to reflect Government guidance in the use of non-disclosure agreements

In response to the report, Ian Floyd, chief operating officer at the council said: “Following the recent publication of Mazars’ report, I would like to thank the auditor for his work and fully accept the recommendations in the report.

“We have developed an action plan to deliver each of the recommendations made by the auditor and this action plan will be considered at the same time as full council considers the Mazars’ report in May. The council will deliver these recommendations as soon as possible and I am committed to ensure we further strengthen governance within the council."

“Moving forward we continue to focus on responding to the pandemic, ensuring a strong recovery for York by delivering on the priorities of residents and businesses.

“It is important the recommendations are acted upon, and equally important the council continues to focus on recovery, given the impact the pandemic has had on residents and businesses.

“Over the last year the council’s response to the pandemic has been incredible. I would like to thank all staff and partners for their ongoing commitment to the lives and livelihoods of York residents as we continue, as we have throughout, to serve our communities and accelerate recovery.”