'Significant problems' remain at cash-strapped council
Lead commissioner Tony McArdle was appointed six months ago
- Published
Nottingham City Council still faces "significant problems", a government-appointed official has said.
The Labour-run authority effectively declared itself bankrupt last year, prompting the previous government to send in commissioners to help run it in February.
Speaking to the BBC, lead commissioner Tony McArdle said he was encouraged the council had "grasped the gravity of the situation" but said it was still "inefficient".
"It still does things in very old-fashioned ways. It still delivers services in a way which is not necessarily best for the people who receive them", he said.
The council issued a section 114 notice in November last year
Mr McArdle also warned of further cuts and said next year's council budget would be "a very tough one".
"There will be service cuts, I'm not going to shy away from that. The amount of money the council has available to it will be considerably less next year than this year simply because it is overspending," he said.
He added he was "hopeful" the authority would not be forced to increase council tax "too greatly".
The amount councils like Nottingham can put bills up by each year without triggering a local referendum is capped by government, currently at 4.99%.
However, other councils which have issued section 114 notices, such as Birmingham, have been allowed to raise it by more.
Mr McArdle said he was conscious bills in Nottingham were already high.
"Simply putting an extra council tax burden on is not the way to solve Nottingham's problems," he said.
"It may have to happen to some degree but we're not in a place to be able to say that yet."
He also said the authority would continue to sell property in order to help balance the books, but the disposal of unused "operational property" would be prioritised ahead of local landmarks such as Nottingham Castle and Wollaton Hall.
He said: "We understand the natural desire to keep those within the public realm and the ownership of the authority. If that can be achieved, that is something we'd love to achieve. We have no ambition to sell the family silver."
Councillor Neghat Khan became the council's leader in May
Mr McArdle welcomed recent changes at the top of the authority, including the appointment of both a new leader and chief executive.
"There is a clear political determination to work through this, to accept the reality of the situation, to grasp it and to do something about it," he said.
The council declined to respond directly to Mr McArdle's views, but it recently approved an improvement plan, which it said would act as a blueprint for how it would become a "financially sustainable, resilient and better-run organisation".
The commissioners are due to be in place for two years.
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