Pickles proposes extra directions for Tower Hamlets after court ruling

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has issued further proposed intervention directions for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the wake of last week’s ruling by the High Court.

Judge Richard Mawrey, sitting as an Election Commissioner, found ex-mayor Lutfur Rahman guilty of corrupt and illegal practices and one of his aides, Alibor Choudhury, guilty of a corrupt practice. He also ordered the election of 22 May 2014 to be re-run.

Rahman yesterday announced plans to appeal the ruling, saying he continued to reject all claims of wrongdoing.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government appointed a team of commissioners in December 2014 to oversee the running of the council.

This came after a damning report by PwC that said Tower Hamlets had failed to comply with its best value duty in a number of areas.

In response to the High Court ruling Pickles has now proposed additional intervention powers for the commissioners “to order the council to take any actions needed to safeguard good governance throughout the council until a new mayor and top officer team are in place and fully bedded in”.

These directions would enable the commissioners to require Tower Hamlets – deputy mayor, and mayor once elected, cabinet, council, or officers – to take any steps which the commissioners considered were needed for good governance and sound financial management.

The proposed directions would be in force only as long as necessary, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.

It added that the Secretary of State would, following the election of the mayor and the three statutory officers taking up their posts, review the additional directions' continuing need with a view to ending them by 31 October 2015 or earlier if appropriate.

The Secretary of State also issued a direction requiring Tower Hamlets to appoint, through open competition, a Head of Paid Service, who will be responsible for managing all the council’s staff and exercising delegated executive functions.

Two new commissioners to join the existing team of commissioners headed by Sir Ken Knight have been appointed as well. They are Chris Allison, who spent 30 years with the Metropolitan Police Service, and Alan Wood, who was president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services until March 2015.