Two councils in Wales have incurred over £290,000 of 'unlawful' expenditure, the Auditor General for Wales has discovered.
In two new reports, the auditor found Buckley Town Council and Mumbles Community Council had 'significant deficiencies' in their procurement arrangements.
Buckley Town Council incurred unlawful expenditure totalling £269,962 after it failed to comply with its own standing orders on two cleaning contracts and the appointment of a town centre manager.
Mumbles Community Council was found to have 'significantly' overspent its budget in relation to planning consultancy services.
Auditor General, Adrian Crompton said: 'This year alone I have had to issue twelve reports in the public interest, which highlight serious weaknesses in the financial management and governance and town and community councils in Wales. This undermines public trust and can lead to a waste of public money.
'I call on all town and community councils to take heed and learn from the important lessons within these reports so that communities in Wales get the services and the assurance they rightly deserve.'
