Nottingham City Council faces further government intervention because of a “distinct lack of urgency” in delivering financial improvement at the authority.
Lee Rowley, parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government, said in a written response to a report from the Improvement and Assurance Board (IAB) that the appointment of commissioners might be necessary if insufficient progress was made by June on delivering the recovery plan and fulfilling 67 requirements laid down in September 2022.
Then, the government announced that it would be intervening in Nottingham City Council. However, it refrained from appointing commissioners to take over the council’s finances and instead issued directions to strengthen the improvement board’s powers.
The board, which is chaired by Sir Tony Redmond, made recommendations to Nottingham City Council in its most recent progress report, which was written in February and published on 18 May. These took the form of instructions to accelerate the pace of improvement and to seek early resolution of the most pressing issues. Redmond’s report highlighted the “lack of urgency” in tackling the necessary change and expressed dissatisfaction with the progress being made.
The IAB’s report stated: “The finance improvement plan is critical in terms of ensuring sound and secure financial management, budgeting and accounting arrangements.
“There has been some limited advances in this area but the council now concedes that it has made unsatisfactory progress in virtually all of the key elements of the Finance Improvement Programme.
“This needs to change as the board looks to an early resolution of the problems relating to the experience and the calibre of staff for the finance function.”
Writing in response to the publication of the report, Rowley noted his disappointment and said he supported the report’s recommendations. “The council must increase the momentum with which change is being made and I expect the council to continue to comply with the directions moving forward,” he said.
Rowley said he was “pleased” that Nottingham City Council had made some good progress around improvement and recovery in recent months and was able to set a balanced budget for 2023/24.
15th Annual LATIF & FDs’ Summit – 19 September 2023
250+ Delegates from Local Government & Investment
In his written response to Redmond, Rowley stated: “This is a critical point in the council’s improvement journey. The city of Nottingham will continue to face many challenges and it is imperative that the council maintains and builds on the progress made to date.
“The onus is on the council delivering the necessary improvements to the board’s satisfaction, and I will continue to seek your assurance on progress made and the adequacy of the council’s performance against the instructions.
“I will continue to assess whether the exercising of further powers under the Local Government Act 1999, including the appointment of commissioners, will be necessary on receipt of your next report in June.”
In response to the prospect of further government intervention, David Mellen, Nottingham City Council’s leader, said: “We welcome the latest report from the Improvement and Assurance Board and its acknowledgement of the progress we have been making.
“We know that further improvements are required and the report clearly sets out the areas where we need to bring about change at a faster pace. However, we are committed to working with the board to ensure that happens.”
Mel Barrett, Nottingham City Council’s chief executive, also welcomed the report. She said: “The report underlines the importance of the work we have been doing through our ‘Together for Nottingham’ improvement plan to respond to the board’s instructions, and we are updating the board on a regular basis on the action we have already taken in response to the instructions they have issued.”
A previous report by the IAB, published in February, highlighted that financial progress at Nottingham had “fallen short” of its expectations.
—————
FREE weekly newsletters
Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us here
Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address
Room151 Webinars
Visit the Room151 channel
