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Glossary of names and terms

By on 5th November 2025 in Issues

This series of articles has been written by residents, for residents, and while the subjects covered are both nuanced and complex, we have aimed to keep the language simple and the explanations easy to understand.

There are necessarily some terms that simply have to be used, so to assist the reader in following them, we have prepared this glossary of the main terms and people that most residents would be unfamiliar with.

Definition of terms

Capitalisation Directive

A Capitalisation Directive is the most common form of Exceptional Financial Support (a type of bailout for councils) and is what Hillingdon Council formally applied for.  By law, a council cannot use money from capital (such as selling assets or borrowing) to pay for its day-to-day (revenue) running costs.  A Capitalisation Directive is special permission from the government to break this rule, allowing the council to treat its revenue overspend as a capital expense.  This allows the deficit to be covered by taking out new long-term loans or using money from selling assets. This creates a “long-term pressure” because the borrowing must be paid back, with interest, creating a real cash cost for the council over the following 20 years.

CIPFA

CIPFA stands for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.  It is the professional body for accountants and finance experts working in the public sector.  CIPFA sets financial management standards for councils, and provides formal advice to Chief Financial Officers, as well as comparing how well different councils manage their money. In February 2025, Hillingdon’s then-Chief Financial Officer, Richard Ennis, planned to engage CIPFA to begin work on fixing the council’s financial failings.

EFS

Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) is effectively a government bailout for a council that can no longer meet its financial commitments or deliver a balanced budget. It is a process where the council negotiates with the central government for permission and cash to remain solvent. Hillingdon Council’s S151 Officer confirmed the council was formally seeking EFS as it was facing an “untenable” position and a forecast negative reserve of -£24.9 million. This support can be granted in several forms, including a direct grant, a loan, permission to raise Council Tax above the legal limit, or a Capitalisation Directive.

LDRS

LDRS stands for the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a BBC-funded public service news agency that provides impartial coverage of local government and other democratic institutions across the UK.  It was established in 2017 to ensure local communities are informed about how their local authorities are working.  Their reports on council meetings, budgets, and other local decisions are then shared with all partner news outlets.  Philip Lynch is ‘our’ LDRS journalist, and specialises in covering Hillingdon Council (as well as Ealing and Hounslow). His reports are supplied to local media, including MyLondon, the Uxbridge Gazette, the London Standard, and the BBC.

Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer is one of the council’s three key statutory officers, alongside the Chief Executive and the Chief Financial Officer.  This person, often the council’s senior lawyer, has a legal duty to ensure the council acts lawfully and fairly in its decision-making, maintains the Constitution, and upholds good governance.  This role of legal oversight is crucial during a crisis, and in Hillingdon, it experienced severe instability, with the council having four different Monitoring Officers in just four years.  In the event of a Section 114 “bankruptcy” notice, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Financial Officer become jointly responsible for approving all essential spending.

Section Numbers

Section 24

A Section 24 Recommendation (under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014) is a formal and highly unusual statutory action taken by an external auditor. It is not a routine part of an annual audit but rather a serious escalation, indicating the auditor has identified significant weaknesses in a council’s financial management, governance, or its ability to deliver value for money.  When Ernst & Young (EY) issued these recommendations to the London Borough of Hillingdon Council on 24 July 2025, it was because they were “not confident that the Council has a clear understanding of its current financial position” and found “systemic weaknesses” in its controls.  The recommendation legally compelled the council to hold a public meeting (which it did on 11 September) to formally consider the auditor’s report and decide what corrective action to take.

Section 25

A Section 25 Statement (under the Local Government Act 2003) is a formal report that the council’s Chief Financial Officer must legally provide to all councillors when they vote on the annual budget. While issuing this statement is a normal and mandatory part of the budget process, the content of the one issued in Hillingdon in February 2025 was highly unusual and served as a severe warning.  Instead of providing assurance, the officer stated that the budget estimates were “not sufficiently robust” and that reserves were a “marginal call judgement” and “very low.”  He flagged the budget as “very high-risk” because it was dependent on an “unprecedented” £34 million savings target, which was more than double the amount the council had ever achieved in a single year.

Section 114

A Section 114 Notice (from the Local Government Finance Act 1988) is the formal legal action that effectively serves as a declaration of bankruptcy for a council. It is the most serious step a council can take and must be issued by the Chief Financial Officer (the S151 Officer) if they believe the authority’s expenditure is likely to exceed its income, meaning it cannot meet its legal duty to set a balanced budget. Issuing a notice immediately halts all new, non-essential spending. As of late October 2025, despite forecasting its funds will be £24.9 million overdrawn by the end of the financial year, Hillingdon Council has not issued a Section 114 notice. The Chief Financial Officer stated in his public report that the only reason one had not been issued at this time was that the council was in discussion with the government to secure a bailout, known as Exceptional Financial Support (EFS).

Section 151

The Section 151 Officer is a required statutory role (under the Local Government Act 1972) held by the council’s most senior financial official, also known as the Chief Financial Officer (the term we have used throughout our articles) or Corporate Director of Finance.  This person has a personal and legal responsibility for the proper administration of the council’s financial affairs. Their key duties include writing the annual Section 25 Statement to advise councillors on the risks within the budget and determining the adequacy of the council’s reserves.  This is the only officer with the power to issue a Section 114 Notice (‘bankruptcy for councils’) if they believe the council is unable to set a legal, balanced budget.  Hillingdon has experienced significant instability in this critical position, with three different people holding the post between February and September 2025.

Officers

Council Officers are politically neutral, paid employees responsible for running the council’s day-to-day services and providing professional advice to councillors.  The most senior among them, known as Statutory Officers, have a personal, legal duty to ensure the council acts lawfully and manages its finances properly.

Richard Ennis, Andy Goodwin and Steve Muldoon – these people held the Chief Financial Officer (Section 151 Officer) position for Hillingdon Council through 2025.  Richard Ennis was appointed as an interim in Autumn 2024 and wrote the Section 25 statement ahead of the 2025/26 budget being approved in February.  Andy Goodwin was his Deputy Section 151 Officer, before stepping up himself as interim Chief Financial Officer after Richard left the council by May – and it was under Goodwin’s stewardship that the historical £14.1m errors were announced.  Steve Muldoon took over from Andy Goodwin in September 2025, as the council’s new permanent Chief Financial Officer.

Lloyd White – the long-time head of Democratic Services and Returning Officer at Hillingdon Council, Lloyd White now also serves as the Monitoring Officer.

Councillors

Elected Councillors are local politicians voted in by residents to represent their ward.  They are the political decision-makers responsible for setting the council’s overall policy, agreeing the budget, and approving key decisions.

Ian Edwards – Leader of the Council, and Conservative councillor for the Eastcote ward

Martin Goddard – Cabinet Member for Finance & Transformation, and Conservative councillor for the Ickenham & South Harefield ward

Steve Tuckwell – Cabinet Member for Property, and Conservative councillor for the South Ruislip ward

Other organisations and people

Ernst & Young (EY) – is a major global firm of accountants and consultants, serving as the London Borough of Hillingdon’s external auditor. On July 24, 2025, they issued a rare Section 24 Statutory Recommendation, a formal warning stating they were “not confident that the Council has a clear understanding of its current financial position” and had found “systemic weaknesses” in its financial management and governance.

Grant Thornton (GT) –  is a major UK accounting and consulting firm. In May 2025, Hillingdon Council’s leadership hired them to run its “Financial Modernisation Programme”, a decision that went against the former Chief Financial Officer’s original plan to use CIPFA. This appointment was controversial as the Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Martin Goddard, was a former partner at the firm. Grant Thornton was later awarded a further £700k contract without a competitive tender.

Philip James Lynch (PJ) – is the journalist for the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) who covers Hillingdon Council for the local press. In July 2025, Hillingdon Council’s press office “blacklisted” him, because of an unsubstantiated claim of “political bias”.  Despite this, his reporting on the council’s crisis was recognised when he was named a winner of the prestigious “Press 30 Under 30 Awards 2025” and was also shortlisted for “Young Journalist of the Year” at the Media Freedom Awards 2025.

Read more in our special series of articles:

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