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Dr. Julian Lewis: The hon. Lady mentioned the length of the investigation. For the sake of the record, I wish to emphasise that it took seven years. Has any comparable time ever been taken by an auditor in an investigation of the wrongdoing of a Labour council?

Mr. Dismore: There has been no comparable wrongdoing.

Ms Buck: As my hon. Friend says, there has never needed to be an investigation on a comparable scale into such electoral wrongdoing. As I have said, we asked time and again for additional resources for the auditor's office to bring about a speedy completion of the investigation. The length of the inquiry was not helped by the fact that documents were shredded and deliberate attempts were made to undermine, block and delay the process.

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Key movers of the policy remain in place and, in some cases, in important positions on Westminster council. David Weeks, one of those found guilty by the High Court and erstwhile deputy to Dame Shirley and leader of the council in his own right, continues to sit as a councillor. He may even seek to be re-elected in this year's local elections. He has not been suspended by the Conservative party. Why not? After all, he has been found guilty in the High Court. He has not been condemned by the Conservatives and he has not had the decency or good taste to resign his seat.

Councillor Alex Segal, who was not on the final list of those investigated, remains as the chair of social services and as chief whip. He produced a paper, in January 1987, that drew attention to the likelihood that home owners would be more likely to vote Conservative. It stated:

"The short term objective must be to target marginal wards and redress the imbalance of tenure."

Senior Conservatives have sought to create an image of themselves as victims who have been wrongly accused, harmed and persecuted. They are not the victims: the victims are the residents of the City of Westminster, especially the thousands of vulnerable homeless, those in housing need and the leaseholders who await redress. We await an apology from the Conservative party and its condemnation of those involved. Above all, we await the money.

10.25 am

Mr. Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam): Before I start, I wish to offer my apologies to the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) for not being in my place at the beginning of his remarks, although I managed to hear most of them. I also apologise to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for my lateness and the resultant discourtesy to the House.

Before commenting on the Westminster case, I wish to set my remarks in the context of local government as a whole. It is important to stress that local government in this country is generally free from corruption and fraud. In evidence to the Nolan committee on standards in public life for the third report on local government, the Audit Commission stated:

"The Audit Commission appoints auditors to 469 local authorities. These authorities spend over £50 billion per year. Over 20,000 councillors serve on them and 2 million people work for them.

The systematic abuse of power--and its financial consequences--by Dame Shirley Porter and David Weeks, as leader and deputy leader of the Conservative majority on Westminster council, is in a league of its own in the annals of local government misconduct and surcharge. The traditional independence of local government officers was undermined by the climate of fear engendered by the intolerant attitude of the Conservative majority on the council. Details of that intolerance are given in the High Court judgment, and I urge some Conservative Members to read it in its entirety, instead of relying on the selective quotes that have been used so far.

Local government officers, unlike civil servants, work for the whole council and not just for the ruling party. That is not a fiction but a practical reality, which informs the culture of most councils, and a vital safeguard of the transparency of decision making in local government, which the House should not lightly discard. On Westminster council, the dividing line--even the grey area--between public purpose and party political purpose was not just blurred: it was totally ignored. Power was concentrated in a few hands and dissent was stifled. In effect, the Conservative leadership took on executive power. That is a warning of what can happen when powerful executive politicians are without adequate checks or balances.

Admittedly, much could be done to modernise the local government committee structure and many hon. Members who have come from local government know how the system works. However, the legal requirement that decision-making committees reflect the political balance of the council is an important safeguard for the public and for minority parties. The other place is considering a Bill that would allow one-party decision-making committees and the concentration of executive power in the hands of individual councillors or elected mayors.

The Bill undermines the strong legal framework that governs access to information and provides for experiments. Westminster was a laboratory where such experiments were allowed to run out of control. The purpose of Westminster Conservative councillors is now clear: they sought to gerrymander the 1990 local elections. In the High Court judgment, Lord Justice Rose said:

"Their purpose throughout was to achieve unlawful electoral advantage."

Mrs. Teresa Gorman (Billericay): I am sure that, in the interests of accuracy, the hon. Gentleman would

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Mr. Burstow: If it is a matter of appeal, we shall have to see what comes next. The hon. Lady will accept that a detailed reading of the Court of Appeal judgment shows that those people acted wilfully, committed misconduct and incurred substantial financial loss. I accept that the court said that two people were involved, but they are two very senior members of the Conservative majority on Westminster council, who led that council in an entirely improper and inappropriate direction for many years.

When Lord Nolan reported to the Prime Minister last July, he made some important recommendations to rebuild public confidence and strengthen the ethical framework of local government. I hope that we shall soon have an opportunity to debate that report in detail and that the Minister can confirm today that there will be a new statutory provision for misuse of public office, which would have a far wider effect than the blunt instrument of surcharge.

Westminster is an extreme and extraordinary case, but the circumstances that made it possible are more likely to be fostered by long periods of uninterrupted one-party rule. Although I would never argue that electoral reform is a cure all, I believe that a proportional voting system would bring a long-overdue gust of fresh air into our town and county halls.

Several hon. Members rose--

Mr. Burstow: I thought that that comment might bring one or two people to their feet, but, in view of the time available, I shall take no interventions.

Such a change would strengthen opposition party representation on many councils where one party has enjoyed unfettered power with little scrutiny for far too many years. Allied to measures to boost turnout, such as a rolling register, PR would make a difference to the quality and effectiveness of local government.

In 1996, the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer), the then Secretary of State for the Environment, told the House in answer to a private notice question:

"If decisions in respect of Westminster are upheld by the courts, I shall not hesitate to condemn those responsible".--[Official Report, 9 May 1996; Vol. 277, c. 367.]

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