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The Government of the Rhondda

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The Government of the Rhondda District Auditor's Report. Remarkable Disclosures. Require Investigation. Economy Urged. r Financial Position Declared Unsatisfactory. Some rmnarlnhle disclosures are made (Mr M 8 the Government Auditor the RhnJv^i T-?Vert') on tlie accounts of the f ja [J13111 District Council for J ttv fiS ended -March-' 31st, 1907. Since there 1X1 ,1897>" 6a-YS Mr. Probert, I develonm 1 £ +Ve • keen very considerable J .of th(f r* s .1.n the hl ])t of the duties 1 think thSTl'1, »na 14 »«• I Went'in +k„ I? v ,x om i(,r Jmprove- l the detiflr+^> Illr adopted in some of I oonsid^K]?1^1 an^ the possibility of ( control nf +1 ln2re*&&- efficiency in tlie » i"e-or»an;cro+- lances °f the Council by avo^S^V <>f the clerical ,-taff, i Work L(1!v ?!)ln" a"d duplication' of { classes nP q.u the duties of several ^veiul dePar £ Cerf' anJ grouping the with the Aw?' and linking them up thereby ^?nta,it1s stalt as tJle celltre. examination nf1U?i thorough and prompt •<uit shouh £ atl ^counts. Ttie Account- °f real txhvai- a cont1'oller and an officer *°f financial h ^"hom all the matters when, the Finance f Ul+x ^ocu*> fe° that committee cor.™?- 0l' other ttwtjters of f; (lu^d, came to deal with .«UaraXe thaVf °f' thwe would be a «■ most rieorono 1 matter had received ^assurance that -iiie^amui:ation,. and an. "Council had beeh dulv reR"la1tions of the ?ay of pas.sin«)- tV)(k rl earned out ill tlie the goods &c "It i011S *nd order" *">t be said to exist t)les<lt, this c«n- URGENT REFORMS NEEDED, how, by emnfnv^11 xgoes 011 to Point out staffs in two or niore distinct Rate and +v> tfie General District Ration of Wr.,ei 0oi" Rate, much dupli- involv^r? ia^ lncrea,sed cost had Rate dBn„v,J M'hilst abmsos in the Poor Reforms ?le had also occurred. called for' and +i^>r r^eeds! are urgency-; QUence of'+'V. 6 Council have in conse- 'aPPoiiitmenfe C;U^e!!ati°n of. the order of dialis n °/ Collector by the Guar- lolidatina- fif0 opportunity of con-* > treneral le c^lon tlie Poor and «sin« +]_ strict Rates, and of re-organ- iKcludivi^ ^Jl°le of the collecting staff, Worl^ i Water, Private Street this nm, +-C* *t is .unnecessary, to labour say that a ai.n Slad to be able to c°ncur v?+Ul Principal officers not only acthoritv f aiiB to obtain." the tlie npw '°v the Council to inaugurate l^itent tn S "i' They are perfectly com- «ud J i ev°lve a satisfactory scheme, f shall bf ?a^ 110 more except this, that Siad to give any assistance in | c'hange>> 1 to help on so desirable a I The GAS MANAGER'S DUTIES. aPpear«7|Ufi*'?1" &oes on to .say that there of Worlr w a S°°d deal of duplication the i„ between the Ga^ Manager's and < clarft<f°+int?1 lt s Department^, and he [ put a liu } steP-s sl,ou!d taken to I '^nnecessTiMr +i for seemed quite | the Accoiin+i l a";y, °fficer other than lh* accounts Til tr c0ncenif1 wit}l f.PPear.-i to nie » +• anager has- it ample work to atteiiT +n Mr- ,Probert, t'cal makina anrl ,ia the prac- « fct. promptly, T2f' ^ar's worldng. Abstract of the I 2™™™s waste OF OAS. feature in the ™ afes- that a marked Waste (o.a iC0unt,sl 1S the* tremendous «as manufir+n raccounte4 foi') on the ^han 25 ner r-a'+ ar?ounting to no less j- reasonable It would not be un- l^rcentap-A r,f i says'. t° expect a high •large ™?ii owing to leakage, in a. leason u- e*iT but no adequate apparent&S urnished. to account for this the rjJ, excessive percentage, which in Per ceif+Ce year approximated to 16 cubic fel+ • Price °t 4s'- 3d. per 1,000 v.'ere talr 1S same when the works ^t&ndw'6/} ?Ve1r ten years ago, notwith- t}ie "'crease year by year J6 aumlic i: ° Sas manufactured, and ^henomenoi Jas consumers, has been °rks i' The position of the Gas bilged +1auything but satisfactory, y the financial results." OSSES ON GAS AND WATER, file year 011 gas undertaking during Interest anfl^ Prodding for principal and Vng to £ i9^S.n^inS fund charges amount- iu' 18!; 6d- wais no lees than Pi'ecediao- •> the small profit in the the ereetin^i.' £ appropriated towards 0rchy. a °f a new gas holder at Tre- ^ater\vork« K, ,l,)s0 recorded on the P.l'°vidino. f^1(^ertaking. amounting, after rp,uking f,mr1 Principal and interest and Jho charges to £ 4,492 17s. 2d. "?■? Provision ^minents on the fact that renewal f, J,?e:ued t° he made by way Provide 1 j1' otherwise to meet or r where T JX depreciation of plant is involved?" r°Und figureå of OOO is -T"()RoTJGH INVESTIGATION NEEDED C°uplecl ^urt g°es on to that, toms P „ °1ther unfavourable sympl tioii 'of 'o: e lof Percentage of produc- ible low- pei' ton of coal carbonised, 1 ge °i /esidual Products better resu it TTr^01' sVggesti»g that obtained and S ft +1 and 0Ugllt to be for,),, rlat tllerc was a. necessity Method, ,Tg 1 1lllve^tigati0n into the •opinion »a ieSeft Ki i the Auditor's Principles f, g ttibIe departure from the Jhe case nf;fund finance was made in holder at m Provision of a, new gas f 3d' v.. eoi'chy, on which £ 4,603 ■farging sa^s expended. Instead of i an in rluc. ie\ enue or obtaining a a have ono coyrseJ the. Council appeared view of a account with -eVeHUp nr, ctlarging the expenditure to (or the rates) i^ annual ai's. nV covering; a period of seven robevt i ,e. underlying, motives, says Mr. ^e,'e ll0' ] riiclx brought about this method *j°Und l0"pt commendable, but he was i-^art £ ei" strong opposition to any laMlitie troni the principle that the Is I n01 the Council must be met r 1>evenn16n they arise, and be charged Purpose, r or |oan duly raised for that +{°11 to, 1,r7-11 this case there was no inten- .t)-el,ef,o aiin, loan, and it would, e sW-ic, e,WeH if the Council were to ri'at'gp +1I Si at an early date to legally heir aoo. glance of £ 3.070 18s. 8d. iii "^counts," ,i AA(IK 0F SUPERVISION. ^sirabilitv^T idso pahs attention to th-3 y Pi adopting methods to ensure efficient cheeking and control in the Surveyor's department stores, whilst he also notes that as to rçpairs to school buildings, &c., carried out by the Coun- e cil's wor'onen (Education Department), there appeared to be a lack of supervision. The Director acted as" Clerk of the Works," but it was agreed that the nature of his duties prevented him giving adequate supervision to this work. DEPUTATION EXPANSES. Under the heading of General District riui.id Accounts," the Auditor points out that charges for deputation expenses were made during the year for ttëhding conferences which in some instances could not be held to be conferences or meetings within the meaning of the Public Health and Local Government Conferences Act, 1885. Similar expenditure should not c recur in future." He also notes a payment of C3 15s. for publishing 500 posters re Alcohol and Physical Deterioration," and says that objections to expenditure of this nature vrere' obvio-usj and simi|ar expenditurei should not be charged on the rates. OFFICERS' SUBSISTENCE ALLOW- ANCES. Under this heading, the Auditor notes that the charges made by certain officers of the Cbuiicit, for subsistence allowances when out of the district, e.g., 26s. per diem when in London, and 13s. 6d. per half-day when in Pontypridd, call lor comment. The scale of .subsistence allowance," lie remarks, should not ex- ceed £ 1 Is. for London, and, 15s. else- where (and should cover a period of 24 hours), together with the necessary ex- penses of locomotion. The day allow- ance should not exceed 10s. 6d. or 7s. 6d. pei- day, as the case may be, with travel- ling expenses. W hen officers make short journeys to Pontypridd or Cardiff, the. subsistence charge should be strictly limited." CONTRACTS AND TENDERS. The Auditor also suggests that better results would be obtained if all the haul- age contracts were let upon open tenders, and remarks that, with certain excep- tions, the printing work was generally divided amongst the printers in the dis- trict. He points out the desirability of all printing work, together with the books, stationery and other requisites being thrown open for tenders, "VALUELESS RECORDS" After a reference to the average cost of maintenance of each patient in the Council's Hospital, which, during the year, worked out at £ 1 7s. 3d. per week, Mr. Probert goes on to say that the record kept in some of the departments of the receipt of goods and their con- sumption was practically valueless for all purpo e of control, whilst the orders issued by one department appeared to be wanting the "hall mark" of the Council's authority. "It js," continues the report, highly desirable that an efficient system should be introduced with- out delay whereby the Council will be in a, position to ascertain. exactly the con- dition of the stores, the expenditure under the main heads, and the balance in store at any time. Efficient control, under present conditions, appears to be lacking." The methods adopted in check- Ing day work is said to be unsatisfactory. The routine as to ordering is unbusiness- like," for, instead of the Council approving, of orders or requisitions,. the officer ordered the goods and then submitted the accounts to, the Council for approval. GENERAL DISTRICT RATE. The Auditor also observes that no par- ticulais were given in the Rate Book showing how the accounts written off the Geneial District Rate, on the ground of part voids, were arrived at; consequently, the aliowa.ncg/v could not be adequately checked. -"notes that, in pursuance of the authority of the Council, all owners of premises liable to assessment under Section 211 of the Public Health Act, 1875, where the rateable value of such premises did not exceed: £ 10, were rated instead of the occupiers. In some 5,000 cases the owner of the premises was also the occupier, and. the practice now in vogue of allowing an abatement of a sum equivalent to one-third of the rates, was, in the Auditor's opinion, open to ques- tion, and it was arranged that the Clerk should carefully consider the legality of these allowances and report in due course. PRIVATE STREET IMPROVEMENTS. The amount outstanding, under this head at the close of the year was £ 3.571, and the Auditor says I was far from satisfied with some of the explanations given as to why these claims had been so long outstanding, nl some instances over a year elapsed before the claim was even demanded. The present state of affairs cannot be considered satisfactory," writes Mr. Probert, and the whole subject matter calls for the serious consideration of the Council." EDUCATION ACCOUNTS. The Auditor refers to certain abstract books of accounts setting out the main heads of expenditure in respect of each school, which were required to be kept by the order relating to the accounts of the old School Boards and gave a ready insight into the actual working of each school. Sillce the Council became an education authority, these valuable books have been dropped in consequence of the inadequacy of the staff. This, the Auditor regrets, and he adds, charges of extra- vagance in matters of education can be so easily. made that it is most desirables that the accounts should be kept in such a manner that, if necessary, any sui'h charges could be easily dealt with." The Auditor also directs attention to the charges made for gas and water fit- tings. In one case £ 32 was charged, whereas the actual cost to the Council was C37 5s. 2-d. It seems desirable," he adds, that a more equitable system

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