According to a recent issue of Private Eye, the independent auditors for Newtownabbey Borough Council found a number of unlawful policies and practices, such as:

* “in lieu” payments to officers who didn’t take their full leave entitlement
* using council credit cards to run up thousands of pounds of personal expenditure
* paying compensation (in excess of 100,000 pounds) to officers for premature retirement or redundancy, without appropriate consideration

I can’t find this report anywhere, so I’ve written to the Department of the Environment, who appoint the auditors for local councils, to see if I can get a copy.