Nottingham city councillor says Government-imposed improvement board 'has failed'

The Improvement and Assurance Board (IAB) was appointed by the Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in January 2021 following the collapse of council-run Robin Hood Energy the year prior.

It is independently chaired by Sir Tony Redmond alongside two other independent members and council leader Coun David Mellen (Lab).

Recently the IAB was given new powers to ‘instruct’ – to make sure officers maximise savings in the latest budget round.

The Government has defended the IAB process, saying it has worked constructively with the council.

The authority is looking to fill a £53m budget gap for 2024-25, through cuts to libraries, community centres, care homes and jobs, as well as a separate hole of £23m in the current year which resulted in the council declaring effective bankruptcy with a Section 114 notice in November.

But less than a year ago in March 2023 council officers proposed a balanced budget and four-year financial plan, which was approved by councillors.

This has prompted questions as to whether costs could have been better forecasted and decisions more effectively overseen by the IAB.

Coun Steve Battlemuch (Lab) said: “The costs of children’s care placements have gone through the roof as well as the overall adult social care demand and the rising costs of homelessness and numbers of homeless.

“I think it is a legitimate question for people to say ‘could we not have anticipated that more?’”

Following the issuing of the Section 114 notice, the Government said in December it was ‘minded to’ intervene further with the appointment of commissioners.

If they are appointed, the IAB will be removed and commissioners will take power away from elected members to make sweeping changes to the authority to make sure its finances are in order.

However councillors say instructions from the IAB mean their power has effectively been taken away already, with all executive members refusing to back officer-proposed budget cuts at a meeting on February 13 as a result.

And Coun Mellen described his involvement on the board as a ‘waste of time’.

He said: “I do not really know why I’m on it, I’m being held to account as much as anyone else.

"In my view they should have a politician from somewhere else on the board.”

Coun Battlemuch added: “The IAB has cost taxpayers around £365,000 for the three-year period is has been imposed, while commissioners would cost around £650,000 for a single year.

Former council leader Jon Collins says questions must now be asked as to how the council, overseen by the IAB, got its budgets ‘so catastrophically wrong’.

He continued: “What I don’t think is clear is if anybody is trying to hold the IAB or any of the officers and senior officers to account.

“There’s no point pointing fingers at councillors – they haven’t been able to do anything different to what they’ve been told.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says the IAB has been working ‘constructively’ with the council to address the many challenges it faces.

A final decision on commissioners is expected to be made soon.