The Government has decided to shut down the local government watchdog, the Office for Local Government (Oflog), just over a year after its inception, citing financial concerns and an unclear mandate.
In a letter released on Monday, local government minister Jim McMahon announced the closure of Oflog, which was established less than 18 months ago. Oflog was launched by then-communities secretary Michael Gove in July 2023 in response to a series of council bankruptcies, with the aim of monitoring local authorities' performance and issuing warnings when they were at risk of significant failure.
However, Oflog faced substantial criticism from councils regarding its data usage and ambiguous role, with some arguing that it duplicated efforts already undertaken by other organisations. Upon taking office, the Labour government pledged to review Oflog's role by the end of the year.
In his letter to Oflog's chief executive Josh Goodman, Mr. McMahon cited the "fiscal context" as a reason for the closure, emphasising the need to allocate resources "on the front line." He stated, "It is also an urgent priority to fix the local audit system, which was not part of Oflog’s remit. Furthermore, it is clear to me that Oflog was hampered with a vague and broad remit that risked duplication of functions performed elsewhere. For those reasons, I have taken the decision to close Oflog."
Mr. McMahon also mentioned that the Government would collaborate with councils to "establish other ways to ensure that local authorities are fit, legal and decent," and to "learn the right lessons from Oflog" to ensure its work was not "wasted simply because its formation was underdeveloped and lacked political clarity."
In the devolution white paper published yesterday, the Government committed to reforming the audit system for local councils. Many of them are expected to publish their accounts this year without auditors' approval. Additionally, the Government announced new powers to enhance standards at local councils, including the authority to suspend misbehaving councillors for up to six months.
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