Tower Hamlets mayor hits out at "excessive" intervention package
The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has described the Communities Secretary’s proposed intervention package as “excessive and disproportionate” and called on Eric Pickles to restrict the extent his directions.
The council had 14 days in which to respond to the minister's announcement on 4 November that he planned to send three commissioners into the council.
This followed publication of an inspection by PwC that found the council had failed to comply with its best value duty in a number of areas. These included grant-making, certain property transactions, the use of media officers in the Mayor’s office, and the spending of monies on what amounted to political advertising.
In a statement issued on the day the deadline for a response passed, Mayor Rahman said: “In general, and having received legal advice, I find the directions to be excessive and disproportionate to the evidence and issues identified in the PwC report. That said we have responded with proportionate and workable proposals. Our services are excellent and it is a shame this fact has not been highlighted.
“Where process and governance issues have been identified we will improve them. The Secretary of State should restrict his directions to ensuring that we adopt excellent practice.”
Rahman also said:
- The direction period, which extends to March 2017, was excessive. “The areas highlighted in the report are being addressed and improvements are well underway”;
- There was no evidence base for a wide best value action plan for all council services – “particularly given that many of our services are some of the best in London if not nationally”;
- There was already an established timetable and committee agreed by all parties in the council chamber for appointments so there was no need for the Secretary of State’s intervention in relation to the appointment of statutory officers. (The Communities Secretary has suggested that the three commissioners will need to agree any appointment);
- The draft directions in relation to grants – with the commissioners assuming responsibility for grant-making from the council – “would create an unnecessary bottleneck” in funding for the voluntary sector. The Mayor claimed the council had devised comprehensive proposals to make the necessary process improvements;
- No property was found to be undervalued by PwC but there were valid recommendations about process. “We propose a series of measures that do not risk the council’s regeneration and housing work by introducing an overly bureaucratic process. The council has delivered more social housing units than any other local authority over the last four years and given the levels of housing need this should not be jeopardised”;
- The PwC report only identified limited shortcomings in relation to publicity which had either been addressed or could be addressed quickly and easily. The proposed direction – requiring the council to produce a fully-costed plan on how its publicity function could be properly exercised – was “unreasonable and disproportionate”;
- The direction that the commissioners exercise the council’s functions of appointing an electoral registration officer and a returning officer was an attempt by the Secretary of State to influence the work of the Election Court and the Electoral Commission. “The PwC report did not consider the conduct of elections and it is not relevant to the council’s best value duty”;
- The direction in relation to contracts and procurement – requiring a plan for addressing weaknesses identified by PwC – was “unnecessary.”
Last week a High Court judge rejected a renewal application by Tower Hamlets for permission to bring judicial review proceedings against the Communities Secretary for launching the best value audit of the authority.