All nine members of Oxfordshire County Council's executive have refused to stand down after it was revealed that £11m of social services spending is unaccounted for.

The leader of the Labour opposition, Liz Brighouse, called for the heads of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition after disclosures in the Oxford Mail of a financial fiasco at County Hall.

The head of finance, Chris Gray, who has been with the council for 26 years, is taking early retirement and he will leave in September.

His application was approved on Friday, April 16, by the pension and benefits sub-committee.

Recruitment of a suitable replacement will start on April 19.

But Mrs Brighouse, who represents Wood Farm, fears Mr Gray is being made a scapegoat and it is his political masters, the executive members, who should be going.

The district auditor has refused to sign off the social and health care directorate's accounts - involving about £200m - because £11m of its budget has not been properly audited or accounted for.

A "lost" account, said to contain nearly £1m, is now known to be nearer £1.7m.

A budget for specialists hired to sort out the chaos now stands at £311,000.

"No one person should be blamed for the mess we're in," said Mrs Brighouse. "For two years I've been drawing councillors' attention to the massive overspend and other financial problems, but on every occasion I've been ridiculed and patronised, with the insinuation that I couldn't possibly understand high finance.

"Well, now it's coming home to roost and the entire executive should be asking themselves whether their position is tenable. I don't think it is. They should go collectively and not try to hide behind other people."

Mrs Brighouse believes council leader Keith Mitchell (Con, Bloxham) should lead the exodus, followed by Don Seale, who is responsible for social services under the umbrella of community care and health. Labour councillor John Power, who represents Oxford West, said: "Enough is enough. We were assured in February, when the budget was set, that everything was under control. Now we discover that we were misled. It is the council leaders who should go, not the officers."

Mr Mitchell defended his administration, saying an extra £16m had been injected into social services in two years and there had been no cuts.

In addition to Mr Mitchell and Mr Seale, the Tory member for Burford, the executive comprises: deputy leader Dermot Roaf (Lib Dem, Oxford North), Tony Crabbe (Con, Benson - schools), Neil Fawcett (Lib Dem, Abingdon South - learning and culture), David Robertson (Con, Witney North - transport), Anne Purse (Lib Dem, Wheatley - sustainable development), Janet Godden (Lib Dem, Hinksey - children and young people) and John Farrow (Con, Goring - community safety). Reflecting the collective response of the executive, Mr Robertson said: "I take this Labour demand with a pinch of salt.

"What problems we have are the result of a build-up over many years and Labour are as accountable as anyone else."

Mr Roaf added: "This is a classic example of cynical opportunism.

"The Labour group opposed the executive's budget for employing more accountants to tackle the problem, therefore they're more culpable than anyone."