Employees were told not to “rock the boat” when they questioned the transfer of funds wrongfully spent by the city council and Nottingham City Homes, an investigation of up to £40m worth of payments found. It emerged on Tuesday (April 26) an independent report has concluded money has been misspent by the authority and Nottingham City Homes, dating back more than five years.
It follows a probe into Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Home s accounts by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in conjunction with Richard Penn, a local government expert. The full report, published on Tuesday, found Housing Revenue Account (HRA) money from council house tenants’ rent – which should be ringfenced for council housing – was used on general services instead.
Nottingham City Council says it is arranging for the money to be paid back into the right fund. Reacting to the report, Nottingham City Homes said on Tuesday (April 27) £17m worth of the payments had not been spent elsewhere and the money remains available for council housing.
