The government is “minded” to expand intervention in Thurrock Council by granting commissioners additional powers following concerns over the authority’s “significant financial failings”.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has announced that he will issue further directions to grant the commissioners at Thurrock additional powers over governance, management and staffing functions.
The government’s further intervention comes after a finance commissioner report and Best Value Inspection (BVI) update letter detailed the “seriousness of the council’s financial difficulties” and outlined recommendations for recovery to the secretary of state.
In a letter to Gavin Jones, Essex County Council’s chief executive, levelling up minister Lee Rowley, said: “The first finance commissioner report and BVI update letter set out the significant financial failings at the council as a result of the authority’s commercial investment strategy, and lack of proper financial controls.
“Having considered the evidence, the secretary of state will today announce that he is minded to issue further directions to this effect, to provide you with the powers required to drive forward improvement.”
In September, the government first announced measures to intervene in Thurrock Council and appointed Essex County Council as commissioner and best value inspector.
The BVI update letter from Essex revealed that the council’s current year deficit is £470m and its on-going structural deficit is £184m, which “surpasses that of any other local authority”. It also detailed that Thurrock’s level of borrowing stands at £1.3bn and it will “require significant external support … for years to come”.
The first finance commissioner report and BVI update letter set out the significant financial failings at the council as a result of the authority’s commercial investment strategy, and lack of proper financial controls.
New managing director commissioner
In the letter, Rowley stated that Gove is also “minded” to issue additional directions to Thurrock Council. These will instruct the authority to produce an enhanced “improvement and recovery plan” to the satisfaction of commissioners, to take steps to ensure that the role of the accountable body to the Thames Freeport is exercised to the satisfaction of the commissioners and to undertake any action the commissioners may require to avoid incidents of poor governance.
He also detailed that the government has reviewed the model of Thurrock’s intervention and is minded to appoint a managing director commissioner.
“This appointment is intended to strengthen the intervention model, and to increase Thurrock Council’s capacity to deliver its improvement plan,” Rowley added.
In response to the further intervention, Ian Wake, Thurrock’s acting chief executive, said: “We have been working very closely and cooperatively with the government commissioners and this will continue as their remit expands.
“We’ve put an initial improvement and recovery plan in place that reflects the commissioner’s first report, and we are taking action to deal with our finances and changing the overall culture of the organisation.
“But we have been clear too that there are some very hard decisions to be made as we deal with our finances and agree how we can maintain our services to local people.”
There will now be a ten-day period of representation when the council and local people can make comments on the government’s proposed further intervention.
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