Auditor general berates councils over donations

Over €7,000 from public funds was donated by 14 local councils in breach of the law last year, the National Audit Office found.

In his annual report on local government, the Auditor General complained that recommendations being made “year after year for councils to circumvent this course of action, while being more considerate in the manner of how they distribute their resources within their localities, have not been taken on board”.

The 2009 local councils’ reform and the revision of the Local Councils Act ushered in several changes in administrative procedures and in the financial regulations.

Now article 63A of the Local Councils Act expressly prohibits all donations, whether in money or in kind, by local councils.

Local councils disagreed with the National Auditor’s concerns, claiming they had to fulfil their social and cultural obligations.

The 2014 monetary donations, totalling €7,112 and identified by the National Auditor as in breach of the law, varied from Swieqi’s €10 donation to the parish priest for the celebration of a Mass to €1,367 disbursed by Cospicua council, including €750 spent on awards during Jum Bormla 2014.

A €375 gold medal was awarded to a person who...