Council calls for public inquiry into £1.5bn debt

Thurrock Council ran up debts of £1.5bn after investing into failed solar farms

Councillors have called for a public inquiry into their own authority's £1.5bn debt, after they were presented with a 1,500-signature petition.

Thurrock Council in Essex had initially resisted a public inquiry into its huge debt, accrued through failed investments in solar farms.

But members unanimously voted to press for the inquiry after the petition was presented at a council meeting on Wednesday.

John Kent, leader of the council's Labour group, called the authority's change of stance a “humiliating U-turn".

Resident Kabul Sandu presented the petition at full council on Wednesday.

Mr Sandu said: “The bankruptcy of Thurrock is different from that of other councils in the scale of its £1.5bn squander and the manner in which it was incurred."

Andrew Jefferies, leader of the Conservative-run unitary authority, agreed to write to the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove to request a public inquiry.

He said the council had been focused on "getting the finances back on track and delivering a Thurrock fit for the future".

He added: "We are on track to deliver an improved leadership to accelerate the change that is needed in Thurrock.

"Members should be under no illusion, there is still a lot of work to be done and some tough decisions still to be made.

"But I am confident that if we all work together, we can achieve this for Thurrock."

Kabul Sandu and Peter O'Rourke presented the petition at Wednesday's council meeting

Labour opposition leader Mr Kent thanked residents behind the petition and said the people of Thurrock deserved a "comprehensive investigation into the financial collapse" of the council.

“I suspect this humiliating Tory U- turn is more to do with May’s local elections than any genuine change of heart but I welcome it all the same," he said.

The council had put together a series of cost-saving measures in its proposed budget for 2023 and 2024.

This has led to fewer buses, youth services and street cleaners.

It is understood specialist Essex Police officers have been liaising with the council and other organisations about the situation there.

No criminal investigation is currently ongoing.