Chief executive at Thurrock takes leave of absence as Government intervention gets underway

Thurrock Council’s chief executive has taken a period of leave from the council amid government intervention at the unitary over “serious” concerns about its level of financial risk and debt.

The council announced that Lyn Carpenter, who has been Chief Executive since 2015, will be taking leave for an undetermined amount of time last week (16 September). Ian Wake, Corporate Director of Adults, Housing and Health, is acting Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service in her absence.

It comes after the Secretary of State for Local Government, Greg Clark, drafted in Essex County Council earlier this month to lead intervention and a best-value inspection of Thurrock in response to financial and commercial risks facing the unitary and allegations made about its financial decisions.

In its role as Commissioner and Best Value Inspector, Essex is now running Thurrock’s strategic financial functions and assessing whether there are failures in other functions to mitigate any further risk to services.

Announcing Carpenter’s leave, Thurrock said the interim arrangements would enable the council to support and facilitate the work required in relation to government intervention and the best value inspection.

The announcement added: “Directors’ Board and the acting Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Coxshall, will be working hard with staff, members and partners to protect the interests of and much valued services for Thurrock’s residents.”

According to a letter sent by the Government to Thurrock early this month (2 September), the Secretary of State believes the financial circumstances at Thurrock are “sufficiently urgent” to impose the direction under the Local Government Act 1999 without allowing the council to make representations.

The letter stated that the decision was made due to the scale of the financial and commercial risks potentially facing the council, “which are compounded by the Authority’s approach to financial management and the seriousness of the allegations that have been made by third parties about the processes that have been applied to the operation of the Authority’s commercial strategy”.

It added that Thurrock’s “failure” to provide assurance to the Government on the adequacy of the actions that it is taking to address the issues also contributed to the decision.

Non-profit organisation the Good Law Project launched a judicial review challenge, calling into question Thurrock’s finances in relation to a decision to invest £138m in a solar farm.

The claimant’s letter before claim requested further information on the decision and alleged that the council could have breached its fiduciary duty to taxpayers, failed to take account of relevant considerations in making its investment decisions, and failed to comply with principles of transparency around decision-making.

Commenting on Carpenter’s leave of absence, Acting Leader of Thurrock Council, Cllr Mark Coxshall, said: “I am working alongside everyone at Thurrock Council to make sure that services are delivered and we continue to make Thurrock the best it can be.”

Adam Carey