In the dim and dark recesses of North Lanarkshire Council they no doubt feel aggrieved that the Scottish Secretary's crusading assault on errant councils comes just as their own little local difficulty, comprising a #4m hole in the building and road accounts, the plumber with the golden blow-torch, and other extraordinary occurrences, has become evident. Frankly, in a less apathetic society, in a society which actually cares about honesty, decency, and the democratic necessity of proper local government, the citizens would have metaphorically stormed this excuse for a council and hanged the leading councillors and officials from their civic lamp-posts long ago. It is not the case, after all, that this particular blot on the local-government map is new to controversy. North Lanarkshire is

the direct successor to Monklands and the outrageous conduct which took place there is too recent to be forgotten. Neither did the birth of the new authority end the Monklands affair. The Accounts Commission Chief Auditor received the full financial information on the Monklands shortfall from the new council only last month. His opinion of the discharge of the relevant stewardship responsibilities by North Lanarkshire Council was not complimentary.

As in many examples of incompetence and lack of control by councils it is the direct labour organisation which is at the centre of the latest affair. Mr Dewar has acted with commendable speed in requiring councillors to explain exactly what has happened. Once he has heard what they have to say he has powers which can take matters further. He is aware of the past problems of direct labour organisations and he must consider whether the award of lucrative contracts to in-house units has a tendency to lead to slack control and to abuses of the system. A useful point of comparison would be a council which has awarded contracts to its own DLO but which can show that the organisation is properly run and, most importantly, demonstrate how this is achieved. If not, and if there is a body of evidence which casts doubts on the advisability of DLOs in the future, Mr Dewar should consider their removal.

The imminent arrival of the Scottish Parliament raises further questions about North Lanarkshire. There is no doubt that the Labour Party intends to be strict in its assessment of potential candidates. It is vital that this standard is applied rigorously to any members of North Lanarkshire Council who may wish to be MSPs. The importation of some of the values and attitudes which have brought local government in Scotland to such a low level of esteem in the minds of the public would be a disaster and that stricture applies to members of all political parties.