His alleged drug use has raised serious concerns while the Labour Party is facing a series of questions about him. He was linked with a £50,000 donation from the Co-Operative Group to shadow chancellor Ed Balls' office.

While working as a methodist minister in the 1980s, Rev Flowers was based in Sandwell. He also ended up working as secretary to the West Bromwich West Labour Party.

The former MP for the area, Baroness Betty Boothroyd, described him as something of a Jekyll and Hyde character. She was very quick to qualify that point by saying she did not mean it in a "nasty" way. The peer said that Rev Flowers was someone who showed great enthusiasm but little commitment.

As secretary of the party he would apparently call meetings then fail to turn up. Minutes weren't taken and relevant papers weren't on the table.

But somehow, he ended up a £132,000-a-year bank chairman until he was forced out in June amid concerns about his competency to do the job and a £1.5 billion black hole in the bank's finances.

Baroness Boothroyd, who supported Flowers during a sponsored slim for charity in 1981, believes his lack of reliability let the Labour Party down in Sandwell.

A lot can change over the decades. The impending inquiry may find out whether they changed enough.

Balancing one set of books doesn't solve the whole problem

Never underestimate people power. Dudley's councillors have climbed down over their plans to close seven children's centres.

It was something they proposed reluctantly, saying their hands were being forced by cuts to their funding.

But the sheer weight of public opinion has forced them to go back to the drawing board. The budget will have a £2.3 million black hole unless something else goes.

Meanwhile the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities claims council budgets across the country are at "breaking point".

What it neglects to mention is that surveys have shown public satisfaction with local authorities has actually increased during the past few years of austerity measures.

One of the many challenges facing local authority accountants – aside from having to keep re-writing their budget plans – is that making a saving in one area can end up costing more elsewhere.

The children's centre plans in Dudley would have cost cash-strapped families another £20 a week and would have put pressure on bus services. That money could otherwise be spent in shops.

Mothers demonstrated their difficulties to great effect by cramming pushchairs onto a bus to make the journey to the other centre they would have to use if theirs closed.

Meanwhile the transport authority rubber-stamped its decision to consult on cuts to free tram and train travel for pensioners and to charge children more to use the buses.

What it is having to factor into its plans is the potential for pensioners to switch from using the trams and trains to going onto the buses, which the law requires them to be able to use for free off peak.

So far from saving money, if everyone who uses the trams and trains goes onto the buses it will actually cost the taxpayer more.

Making the cuts would be relatively easy. Just balancing one set of books is not going to solve the problem. There are lots of different bodies that make use of grants.

But the person paying the bill is the same.