Troubled Middlesbrough Council mayor makes responsibility plea

There is a clash of cultures between staff and members of Middlesbrough Council, a review has found

Middlesbrough's mayor has said he wished he had done some things differently and hoped others on the troubled council felt the same way.

It follows findings by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) of a clash of cultures between staff and members.

Andy Preston told politicians on the council that they were all responsible, to varying degrees, for the problems.

He said if all agreed, there was a chance to "put things right".

Cipfa was called in after an external audit report of the council found a pervasive lack of trust between elected members and council staff, and between politicians, which was having a significant impact on governance.

The meeting of the full council was attended by Cipfa consultant John O'Halloran who presented a review he carried out into governance issues which found council staff felt bullied and intimidated by politicians and were embarrassed by their behaviour.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Mr O'Halloran had said problems at the local authority were due to a clash of cultures, with the new administration taking a more entrepreneurial approach than the council had been used to, which had led to entrenched positions and dysfunction.

In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic had led to miscommunication, there were not clearly defined roles for politicians and officers, and the language used was adversarial.

The problems happened on the independent mayor's watch, the Labour group leader said

Labour group leader councillor Matt Storey said the "tremendously serious" issues had happened during the tenure of independent mayor Mr Preston.

He said: "This has happened on his watch and he needs to make sure in a personal sense he takes responsibility for the situation the council finds itself in now because it has happened since his election."

Mr Preston said: "We have got a chance to reset, almost to start from scratch.

"All we need to do is agree that all of us, to varying extents, have some responsibility for the problems we have got and have some responsibility for putting it right.

"I will certainly put my hand on my heart and say there are things I wish I had done differently, there are some things I wish I hadn't done, there are some things I wish I had done and I hope others feel the same way."

Councillor Chris Hobson, leader of the Middlesbrough Independent Group, said: "We have all agreed that we want to take this really seriously and take on the recommendations which we all will and I think everyone in this room would understand how bad it would be if we didn't take [them] on.

"Maybe we have had our difficulties between various members and difficulties between officers but we can put that right, we can move forward."

Cipfa has recommended the council creates an action plan, sets up cross-party groups and has a review process to combat the governance issues.

An improvement board with council staff, politicians and Cipfa has been set up with a first meeting on 2 November.