Councillors could be prosecuted over parish debts – report

Failure to report a suspected offence to the Information Commissioner’s Office could result in the council and councillors being fined or sanctioned, the document says.

The council has “failed on a multitude of areas… failed to comply with statutory requirements and to discharge its duty to protect public money”, according to the report.

It adds this is “the tip of the iceberg that is on course to hit” the authority, which faces an “unfolding crisis”.

The council owes more than £230,000 to Bolsover District Council, about half of which is owed immediately as a loan.

The rest is made up of previously unpaid bills spanning the past five years.

This is in addition to the £3m owed to the government.

The report added: “Defaulting on the loans would most likely result in the Public Works Loan Board [a government body] calling in its debt immediately in an effort to protect the government from loss of public money.”

The document goes on to say that “given the large and systemic failure to follow basic legal obligations… councillors could face potential prosecution should they been seen to have contributed to taking illegal decisions and failure to take recommended action to avert financial loss once their attention has been drawn to the issue”.