Waltham Forest Council could be investigated by police due to missing election expenses detail

The Waltham Forest Guardian reports:

DETAILS of councillors’ election expenses have probably been destroyed, paving the way for a police investigation, it has emerged.

Last week questions were raised about whether forms filled out by members to register their interests were being maintained properly when dozens were found to be incomplete or out of date.

The Guardian has now learned that forms containing councillors’ 2010 election expenses, which must be retained for two years by law, cannot be found.

The council’s monitoring officer, Daniel Fenwick, who is responsible for ensuring rules are followed, has admitted that the forms are likely to have been destroyed when a town hall filing cabinet was emptied during an office move.

In a letter to Nick Tiratsoo, whose research uncovered the problems, Mr Fenwick said the mistake “is likely to be the result of human error”.

He added that the documents may be “in the basement” which cannot be accessed due to maintenance work.

The police would handle any investigation into the matter if a complaint was made that the legal requirement had not been met.

Councillors have now begun to update their declarations of interests forms.

The council declined to comment further...