Nottingham City Council avoids government intervention

The council's finances have come under scrutiny

The government has confirmed it will continue to monitor Nottingham City Council but will not appoint commissioners to help run the body.

Officials gave the financially-stricken council 67 requirements it needed to meet by the end of November.

If the authority had not made enough progress, it could have faced tighter controls and potential commissioner intervention.

The council said it "welcomed" the government's decision.

A government-appointed board led by Sir Tony Redmond was put in place to monitor the Labour-run council after the collapse of Robin Hood Energy in September 2020.

It was later revealed millions of pounds of ringfenced cash from the council's housing revenue account (HRA) was unlawfully spent, with the cost of the repayments now estimated to be £49m to £51m.

In December, councillors backed cost-cutting measures to save £29m, in a bid to plug a £32.2m funding gap.

'More work to do'

In a statement, council leader David Mellen, said: "The council has already made many of the improvements expected of us by the Improvement and Assurance Board (IAB) and the government.

"In particular, we had agreed a balanced budget and medium term financial plan prior to the soaring inflation and energy costs that have affected the finances of households and councils up and down the country - and we are well on the way to balancing the budget for a second year.

"We recognise there is much more work to do to increase the pace of the changes and to put the council on a solid financial footing despite the huge budget pressures we and all councils are facing currently."

In a letter to Sir Tony, sent by Conservative MP Lee Rowley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government - the department notes "good progress".

He said: "I am glad to hear that there has been a step up in progress since the escalation from non-statutory to statutory intervention in September, and that the council is now adopting a more 'serious sense of purpose'.

"It is paramount that Nottingham does not loosen its grip nor lose its focus on its improvement priorities over the next quarter. I am supportive of you using your powers of direction expediently and decisively if you are not satisfied with the progress being made.

"I look forward to receiving your next report from which I will assess whether the exercising of further powers under the Local Government Act 1999, including the appointment of commissioners, will be necessary."