The leader of Enfield Council wants cabinet members to sign up to a charter aimed at boosting financial transparency.

Senior councillors will be encouraged to sign an ‘Awarding Council Contracts Charter’ that makes clear they will not gain financially from council contracts.

It comes amid a review of the council’s deals with organisations that provide services to the local authority.

Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan says the charter will demonstrate that the local authority is transparent about the way it handles public money.

She said: “It says, ‘this is our ethical position’. This is public money in public hands. Members of the public have got a right to expect absolute probity from us, and the charter will demonstrate that.”

Some local authorities have responded to budget cuts by negotiating deals with private companies to provide key services.

But Cllr Caliskan has said she believes bringing services back under the council’s control is more cost-effective and leads to better outcomes.

The council has brought council burial services and the special educational needs transport service back in house during the past year.

It also recently ended a contract with professional services firm Ernst and Young, which was originally awarded in October 2016.

An in-house housing repairs ‘MOT’ scheme was also launched last year to fix long-standing faults in the borough’s social housing.

Cllr Caliskan said the charter would be debated by the Labour Group first and she hoped all members would sign up to it later on down the line.

She added: “The law prohibits councillors from being employed by the authority that they are elected to represent, but I also believe that our politicians with executive decision-making powers in our cabinet should not be permitted to make personal financial gains from council service contracts.

“I am sure the charter will be welcomed by all councillors.”