District auditor, Les Kidner, has called for an end to the long-running saga of Westminster City Council's ‘Homes for votes' scandal. In a public interest report, Mr Kidner concluded the council acted reasonably in agreeing a £12.3m settlement with the former Tory borough leader, Dame Shirley Porter, in place of the £33m surcharge she was originally ordered to pay for unlawfully selling off council homes to influence voting in marginal wards during the mid-1980s. The surcharge was set in May 1996, but it was December 2001 before the House of Lords finally upheld the ruling, and April 2004 before the council agreed a settlement with Dame Shirley. Mr Kidner said critics who claimed Westminster had been deficient in reaching the settlement were ‘misguided and simply wrong' and added: ‘In my view, it is now time to bring this matter to a close and move on from the past.' Labour group leader Paul Dimoldenburg said: ‘Shirley Porter has short-changed taxpayers by £30m and yet the auditor concludes the council acted reasonably.' Westminster's deputy council leader, Colin Barrow, said: ‘We agree it is time to bring this matter to a close.'
