The BBC covers ongoing crises in Kent around the standard of local democracy. I posted on one small part of Transparency International's recent report on the subject.
Thanet has had one of its former Leaders convicted of using his position to illegally profit in a property deal. The new problems seem to be more about the general culture of the authority with accusations of threats, and indeed councillors simply not taking their responsibilities serious enough. I suspect that these are more common problems in UK local democracy, with problems around gesture politics, misdirected energies, lack of attention to the value of taxpayers' money and poor quality decision making being far more common than outright corruption. However, I suspect that such issues have the potential to do far more damage to an authority than outright corruption by a particular individual.
However, all of these areas are seeing the safeguards against abuse steadily dismantled, as Transparency International detailed in their recent report.
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