Council newspapers have been given the all-clear by the Audit Commission. Its inquiry into council spending on communications, including newspapers to residents, concluded councils were achieving value. It found no rules had been broken and councils were meeting a duty to inform. Commission chief executive, Steve Bundred, said: ‘Communication is important to inform the public of the services councils provide, and the functions they perform.' But Conservative local government spokesman, Bob Neill, attacked the commission's findings, saying: ‘There is no case for branching out into weekly newspapers. Shutting down genuine local newspapers will harm the cause of localism by undermining robust local accountability.'