Homes for votes inquiry acquits council

The district auditor has ruled that Westminster Council acted reasonably in the way it recovered money in the homes for votes affair.

Former leader of Westminster Council Dame Shirley Porter was found to owe the council £33 million following a House of Lords ruling in 2001.

Nearly four years later the council settled for £12.3 million to pay for the losses incurred in the mid-1980s, when council homes in marginal wards were sold on the cheap to bring in Tory votes.

A public interest report was published this month as a response to those complaints. In the document's summary, district auditor Les Kidner says that he hopes ‘it will assist in drawing the matter to a close'.

‘While I recognise that the council settled for considerably less than the amount surcharged, I am satisfied that [the council] acted reasonably in its recovery action and did not therefore fail in its fiduciary duty,' the summary states.

Colin Barrow, deputy leader of Westminster Council, said: ‘This report vindicates what we have been saying for some years about the settlement with Dame Shirley Porter.'

But Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group at the council, said: ‘The auditor's conclusions make deeply depressing reading for anyone with an interest in justice and fairness.

‘Shirley Porter has short-changed Westminster Council tax payers by millions and yet the district auditor concludes that the council has acted reasonably.'