Labour councillors have expressed anger over Government plans to bring in commissioners to help run the authority. Councillors took it in turns to express their frustrations at a full council meeting held at the Council House on Monday, July 11.
In June, The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities wrote to the council over concerns about the way it had handled the unlawful spending of council tenants’ rent money. The department said it was ‘minded’ to send in government-appointed commissioners to take control of the situation, as has happened at a small number of other struggling councils across the country.
If commissioners are called in then financial decisions could be taken out of the hands of elected members and senior officers, which includes the way money is spent in the city. Last week, the council revealed it had sent an appeal letter to the government asking for them not to intervene.
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The letter was noted as well as the government’s proposals at a full council meeting on Monday, July 11. Cllr Adele Williams (Lab), portfolio holder for finance, said the decision was “not in the best interests of Nottingham people” and major improvements had already been made to sort out the council’s financial situation.
This has included reducing debt from £1bn to £900m and proposing £38m of savings and cuts over the next four years. “We are making the improvements we need to make even with the enormous pressure of austerity budgets,” she added.
She said the council had written to the new minister of the Levelling Up department, MP Greg Clark, with the hope “fresh faces” will help them look again at the ‘minded’ approach to bring in commissioners. Cllr Steve Battlemuch (Lab) said: “We are going to have two people (commissioners) running the city and replacing 55 elected councillors.
“As council taxpayers in the city, they will be paying thousands a week for these commissioners as well as paying for the staff we employ. What does that say to senior staff of our council that these two commissioners will be overruling and overriding decisions?
“It is a vindictive political act.” Cllr Sam Gardiner (Lab) added: “Boris Johnson is trying to cause a diversion for his own misdemeanors. It is absolutely political. There is no logic to bringing commissioners in.”
Cllr Linda Woodings (Lab) said the council will “stay at the table” and “fight for Nottingham and its best interests” even if commissioners are called in. She described the plans as ‘unjustified’ and ‘undemocratic’.
The Labour-run authority was already under the watchful eye of a Government-appointed improvement board, chaired by Sir Tony Redmond, following the collapse of Robin Hood Energy. The council-owned company cost taxpayers an anticipated £38m when it went bust in January 2020.
Over the last 18 months, council leader Cllr David Mellen said many improvements had been made. This included a culture change across the whole authority over concerns ‘a legacy culture’ had existed for so long that financial decisions were not being properly scrutinised.
But as part of the council’s transformation programme, it was unearthed in May that up to £40m of ringfenced cash for council housing tenants had been spent on other services instead. The local authority had misspent up to around £22.8m since 2014/15 while Nottingham City Homes, which managed the council’s housing stock on behalf of the council, misspent up to £17.1m.
This money must now be paid back – with Cllr Mellen stressing “we have that money, we know where the money is, and it will be put back”.
However, the government said it is ‘minded’ to send in commissioners over the Housing Revenue Account misspending.
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