Westminster Council back in Court

John Magill, district auditor and former partner at Deloitte & Touche, will be aiming to reverse the 1999 Court of Appeal ruling that Westminster councillors, including Dame Shirley Porter, behaved entirely properly in planning and executing a housing policy known as designated sales in the late 1980s.

Magill's investigation, which has so far cost Pounds 13m and lasted 13 years, concluded the council had lost Pounds 31m by its actions.

But a court of appeal ruling threw out the Pounds 26.5m surcharge placed on Dame Shirley and fellow councillors as a result of the investigation.