Councils are failing to produce accurate information on their payroll costs, a survey commissioned by the Department for Communities & Local Government claims.Councils' perceptions of pay pressures in local government finds many struggle to produce reliable data on staff expenditure due to a lack of direct engagement from finance directors and confusion around accounting changes for pension fund deficits.A spokeswoman for the DCLG said: 'It is a concern if councils cannot provide adequate pay and workforce data as both are essential for managing the performance of local government and informing fiscal and macro-economic policy.'The survey admits the councils that responded did not feel the data they had to supply, through revenue account outturn returns, accurately represented changes in staff expenditure.But some 'provided little or no financial information, either because their systems were unable to produce the necessary data or because they were unwilling to devote the necessary resources to doing so'.Chief among criticisms is that finance directors are 'not closely involved' in compiling the data, with many not understanding the importance of the returns compared to the employee costs in annual accounts.It also finds widespread confusion over the way pension fund deficits should be treated. Many councils included theoretical payments needed to fill deficits that they wouldn't have included in their accounts.The Local Government Association was unable to comment.
