DUDLEY councillors have been warned about bad behaviour towards officials after watchdogs uncovered a ‘lack of respect’.

The issue came to light after an audit concluded there was a systemic problem with poor relations between officers and elected members from all political parties.

In a report auditor Grant Thornton said, dating back as far as 2021, it noted several instances of inappropriate member behaviour towards officers, causing concern about the wider culture in the council.

The report blamed a ‘lack of understanding among members’ about the role and responsibility of officers which they considered to be a significant weakness.

Dudley leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, said: “I have lectured my group about what they should and should not do, we need to manage expectations for new members.

“It is about getting the right balance between elected members not getting results and not being served as they would want but not throwing their weight around and berating officers.

“We have an excellent officer team, some go above and beyond but if our response is, at best, abysmal, I understand members getting frustrated.”

The report, for the council’s Audit and Standards Committee meeting on December 18, also found cash-strapped Dudley Council must do more to raise funds rather than rely on reserves.

The Audit Findings Report said: “Due to the inherent uncertainty, we have concluded  there is a significant risk of weakness in arrangements for delivering financial sustainability.”

Cllr Harley said: “We have introduced spending controls to slow down the use of reserves in the current year and we are exploring options for savings in future years, but we are historically a low-taxing and low-spending council and we are still a long way from being able to rebuild reserves.”

The hard-hitting document also questioned whether the council’s governance was working, it highlighted the authority overvaluing its housing stock by £11.5m and a failure to value £22m of land and buildings before the deadline for the audit.

Cllr Harley said: “This is a technical accounting item that does not affect the council’s usable reserves (ie the real money that can be used to pay for services). The recent Peer Review expressed confidence in the skills and ability of the finance team.”

The work of the auditors was hampered by delays in providing data on the value of council assets which meant it was not able to complete its report on time.

The report said: “Urgent action is needed to resolve this issue and to strengthen controls in this area for future years.”

However, the report added delays were not unusual with only 12 per cent of local government bodies publishing their accounts on time.

The report also praised Dudley Council staff for working with them constructively and for not stacking up debt with risky investments in property portfolios.