Nottingham operating beyond its means, but shows signs of improvement: Commissioners

Nottingham City Council continues to operate "beyond its means" and is still dependent upon essential financial support from the Government but has adopted a "clear direction in instituting a wide range of reforms", commissioners have said.

Writing in their second report on the council since being appointed in 2022, commissioners added that some of the reforms are now "bearing fruit but all of which will need to become embedded in order to deliver full benefit".

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing and Local Government, welcomed the positive progress highlighted in the report but added that the "months ahead will be critical" for the local authority.

The commissioner team, which is made up of Tony Mcardle, Margaret Lee, and Sharon Kemp, measured Nottingham's progress against the following three aims set out in the council's improvement plan:

1. A Council that delivers for Nottingham with clear direction and purpose:
2. A Council that is financially sustainable: and
3. A Council that is well-run with effective people, processes, and systems.

On the first aim, the commissioner's report praised the council's adoption of a four-year strategic plan, which sets out the challenges facing the authority and incorporates the priorities of the intervention into a focused set of actions.

Commissioners said they were "comfortable" that the strategy is "appropriately ambitious but deliverable".

On the second aim, regarding achieving financial sustainability, commissioners said that at the time of their arrival in February 2024 – four months after the council had issued a section 114 notice – relationships between members and officers "were perhaps inevitably intense". This was due to the council's finances.

However, commissioners reported that work has seen the council reduce its needed Extraordinary Financial Support from the Government to £25 in 2025/26 compared to £41m in 2024/25. This figure is also forecast to reduce again in 2026/27 to £10m.

A debt reduction policy has also seen the council's external debt reduced by £44.6m over the last 12 months.

Some £38m in savings have meanwhile been found as part of the 2025/26 budget, the report added.

"This is a significant amount and far exceeds levels of savings delivered in the past", commissioners said.

Turning to how the council is run, its staffing and processes, the report noted that there had been significant senior-level changes in the organisation.

It added that those who have taken on senior management positions "have not filled these positions elsewhere and so are learning – often about Nottingham, often about the role they are occupying".

Commissioners also said work has been done to improve member-officer relationships and said they expected to see more "consistent collegiate behaviours over the coming months".

Elsewhere, commissioners said they were "greatly concerned" over the Council's IT infrastructure and systems.

It said: "We have required a review of this area due to mounting concerns and despite reassurances, and this has revealed some serious and systemic weaknesses that have not been exposed to early and transparent management or resolution."

The IT weaknesses are being "urgently addressed" under new management arrangements, according to the report.

The report also criticised the council's delay in introducing webcasts for council committee meetings, despite previous calls from the commissioners for more visible governance. However, the council plans to implement webcasting this month.

Commissioners said that the council must also navigate these improvements while also negotiating local government reorganisation in its region.

Councils in Nottinghamshire recently submitted their plans for reorganisation late last month.

The commissioner report said that improvements will need to continue with the backdrop of local government reorganisation "and the council will need to rise to the challenge of maintaining focus on improving at pace whilst working effectively with neighbouring authorities and Government to create and establish future arrangements".

It added: "We have confidence that this will happen, and that the council will continue to work with us so as to sustain that confidence. Most importantly in effecting a sustainable recovery, governance is improving, and leadership is being given to bring about change."

In a letter to the commissioners, Baroness Taylor said: "It is clear that the council recognises the scale of the challenges it faces, and I am pleased to hear your assessment that the council has made good progress in planning, including the development of the Council Plan, Medium Term Financial Plan and Improvement Plan.

"The full range of reforms the Council has set out must now be embedded at pace and depth to achieve lasting impact."

Adam Carey