LANCASTER City Council says steps have been taken to prevent the errors which led to Blobbygate from ever happening again.

Officers making reports to decision-making bodies, such as the council and its new cabinet, must now list all financial and legal implications. And oral reports will no longer be accepted as a way of providing complex information before decisions.

A member/officer protocol has been introduced, making it clear that an officer's briefing to a small number of members is no substitute for providing all information to a decision making body.

Review boards have also been introduced to scrutinise the executive and call councillors and officers to account.

The council's early retirement guidelines now meet audit commission guidelines.

The council is to hold a full public meeting to discuss the auditor's report a week on Wednesday at Lancaster town hall. The District Auditor has been invited to that meeting to present his report.

Meanwhile, the District Auditor has given an 'unqualified' acceptance of the council's current financial position and says the council is now better off than in previous years, when its finances were stretched.