OFT fines should go to 'victims' says local government body

Money from the fines imposed on construction firms by the OFT should be given back to the public bodies who were “victims” of the bid-rigging scandal, the Local Government Association said today.

Responding to today's announcement by the Office of Fair Trading, councillor Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, said: “There are simply no excuses for collusion or cover pricing, which leaves the public and councils to pick up the tab.”

Eaton added that the firms should also apologise to the public and consider giving money back to the local areas where the activity was found to have taken place.

“These fines should not simply go to central government,” she said, “but should be given back to the councils and other public bodies which have been victims of these unlawful practices.”