A POWERFUL official watchdog has ordered Doncaster Council to sort out its management and damaging internal political wrangling.
The authority has been given a year to sort out problems that the Audit Commission say is hampering the effectiveness of the council.
The council is also accused of not having learned lessons from the Donnygate scandal in the 1990s that dragged t
he town's name through the mud.
But the warnings from District Auditor John Prentice come just days after further upheaval at the council with mayor Martin Winter and two of his cabinet members setting up their own separate party because of internal Labour rows.
Mr Prentice has produced a 25-page Public Interest Report - an unusual move taken only in matters of serious public concern - on the debacle surrounding the departure of former managing director Susan Law that cost the council around £300,000 in legal fees and a pay-off.
The Audit Commission, which monitors local authority spending, recently concluded that the council is not improving adequately and that efforts to improve services were being hampered by some councillors' behaviour and weaknesses in "corporate governance" - the way the council is run.
For reports and analysis see tomorrow's Free Press.
Copies of the Public Interest Report can be viewed at
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