Government 'minded to' send in commissioners to Nottingham City Council

The move would effectively remove power from Nottingham’s elected councillors and place it in the hands of a board of officials in a bid to speed up financial improvements.

At the end of November, the Labour-run authority’s chief finance officer issued a Section 114 notice over a £23m in-year budget gap.

Caps on new spending have been applied and will remain in place until 2025.

A report published ahead of an executive board meeting on December 19 further revealed the council is facing a £53m gap in its budget for the next financial year, starting in April.

In response, the council proposed a raft of new cuts to services, as well as the loss of 554 jobs.

An improvement and assurance board, chaired by Sir Tony Redmond, and made up of independent experts, was first appointed in January 2021 upon the collapse of Robin Hood Energy.

The board regularly updates the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on the council’s progress towards better financial stability.

Simon Hoare MP, minister for local government, has now confirmed improvements are not being made quickly enough.

Michael Gove MP, DLUHC secretary, is now minded to appoint commissioners to exercise certain and limited functions as required for two years.

Mr Hoare said: “The Secretary of State is satisfied that Nottingham City Council is continuing to fail to comply with its best value duty and he agrees with the board that improvements are not being made quickly enough.

“He is minded to escalate the current intervention arrangements in order to secure compliance with that duty and to ensure that the necessary improvements are made for the benefit of the local community.

“The Secretary of State is minded to appoint commissioners to exercise certain and limited functions as required, for two years.

“The proposed move to the commissioner model of intervention represents a significant change to ensure that public trust in the council is restored, particularly as the council has been working with the board since it was first appointed in January 2021.

“The commissioner team, if appointed, would consist of three appointments – a lead commissioner, a commissioner for finance and a commissioner for transformation.

“I am announcing the proposed commissioner team structure to provide clarity to the council around the most pressing priorities, to make clear that there can be no slippage in making the necessary improvements, and to enable representations to be made before the final decisions.

“I am inviting representations from the council on the board reports and the Secretary of State’s proposals by January 2.

“We want to provide the opportunity for members and officers of the council, and any other interested parties, especially the residents of Nottingham, to make their views on the proposals known.

“The Secretary of State will consider carefully all representations and any other evidence received, before deciding whether to change the intervention.”

Commissioners are unelected officials and typically take over the governance, scrutiny and transparency of strategic decision making of the authority.

They have the power to appoint and dismiss persons to positions, as well as define the officer structure for the senior positions and determine the recruitment processes to recruit the relevant staff.