Local councils will have to publish audit details online

Local councils will from this year be obliged to publish the annual management letter issued by their auditors, as well as their responses to the letter.

Parliamentary secretary for local councils Stefan Buontempo said in a statement that this directive was introduced to guarantee transparency from local councils.

Management letters are drawn up by auditors, who attest to the accuracy of local councils’ annual financial statements. Local councils are obliged to respond to these latters, and such responses are forwarded to their auditors, the Director of the Department for Local Governance, and the Auditor General,

“The public has a right to know whether their local councils are accumulating unsustainable levels of debt,” Buontempo said.

He hit out at the previous Nationalist administration for launching schemes that had sunk Malta’s 68 local councils into a combined total of €21 million in debt.

“The previous administration had devolved properties to local councils, even though they weren’t able to financially sustain them,” he said. “The situation is now under control and the debt has been reduced to €19.8 million, at the same time that the budget for local councils has increased by €4 million since 2013.”

He added that local councils will soon be obliged to place a member of the general public on committees that make decisions on major contracts.

“Taxpayers have a right to know how local councils are spending their money, and whether they plan to improve their operations,” Buontempo said. “This is a great occasion for all local councils to bring their operations closer to the people.”