Local Government Best Value

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

I have previously stated when updating the House, this Government are committed to resetting the relationship with local and regional government, and we will take the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government and to support the sector to build its strength. Today, I am updating the House on the steps that we are taking in partnership to support three councils to recover and reform: Warrington borough council, the London borough of Tower Hamlets and Slough borough council.

Warrington borough council

On 8 May, I informed the House that I was satisfied, having considered the best value inspection report, that Warrington borough council is not complying with its best value duty. I proposed an intervention package to secure the council’s compliance with that duty and asked the council and others to provide representations by 22 May.

I received 18 representations, which I considered carefully. I remain satisfied that the council is not complying with its best value duty in relation to continuous improvement, leadership, governance, culture and use of resources. I have concluded that it is both necessary and expedient for me to exercise powers in the Local Government Act 1999 as I proposed, with minor amendments.

I have today issued directions under sections 15(5) and 15(6) of the 1999 Act to implement the proposed intervention package. This package, to be in place until 31 July 2030, comprises specific actions that the council is required to take, alongside the appointment of four ministerial envoys, some of whom will have powers to exercise functions, which are treated by the envoys as held in reserve. I am confident that this package will address the issues identified and is necessary for the council to secure compliance with its best value duty.

The success of Warrington is important for both its own benefit and that of the region, with its critical role in devolution, which offers significant opportunities to drive up growth, improve transport connectivity and build new homes, as well as raising living standards for its population.

I have appointed Sir Stephen Houghton as ministerial envoy and Harry Catherall, Carolyn Williamson and Phil Brookes as ministerial envoys with powers to exercise functions. I am confident that their extensive knowledge and experience will help deliver the necessary improvements for Warrington.

I have issued directions that, in summary, require the council to:

Prepare and agree an improvement and recovery plan within six months, with progress reports to the ministerial envoys after the first three months and ongoing reporting thereafter;

Undertake recruitment for a permanent appointment to lead the improvement work in the authority and progress against the directions;

Review, in the first 24 months, the roles and case for continuing with each subsidiary company and investment of the authority;

Work with the Local Government Association to agree a suitable time for a follow-up review to their 2024 corporate peer challenge; and

Fully co-operate with the ministerial envoys and take any reasonable action within the authority’s functions to prevent further failure, as reasonably determined by the ministerial envoys.

I expect the council to drive its own improvement, with the support, challenge and advice from the ministerial envoys. To safeguard the process, some ministerial envoys will have power to exercise the following functions, to be treated as held in reserve and intended to be used only as a last resort to ensure compliance with the best value duty:

To ensure that the council has the leadership, structures and systems in place to drive and sustain improvement, including governance and scrutiny of strategic decision making, oversight of financial management, and the appointment, dismissal and performance management of senior and statutory officer positions;

To address the root causes of Warrington’s challenges by strengthening the authority’s approach to commercial decision making, property management, procurement and the management of commercial projects;

To support financial sustainability by closing short and long-term budget gaps, reducing reliance on high-risk commercial income, and strictly limiting further borrowing and capital spending; and

To enable transformation of the authority’s operating model and services to deliver value for money and long-term financial resilience;

The ministerial envoys’ appointments and directions take effect from today. The ministerial envoys will provide their first report in six months, with further reports every six months or as agreed with the envoys.

I will review at the appropriate time the directions and the ministerial envoys’ roles, to ensure that Warrington has the support required to accelerate recovery and protect the public purse. Subject to clear and sustained evidence of improvement, certain functions may be returned to the council ahead of the expiration of the directions.

As with other statutory interventions led by my Department, the council will meet the costs of the ministerial envoys and provide reasonable amenities and services and administrative support. The envoys’ fees are published on gov.uk. I am assured that this provides value for money given the expertise being brought and the scale of the challenge.

Tower Hamlets

Statutory intervention in the London borough of Tower Hamlets began on 22 January and is centred on a team of ministerial envoys working in partnership with the council to oversee and support the required improvement work. Today I am publishing the ministerial envoys’ first report, received in May, which identifies progress in a number of key areas. These include reconfiguration of the council’s transformation and assurance board, which is already drawing on the external expertise and challenge of its members, the creation of outline plans for continuous improvement and programmes for cultural change and political mentoring, and recruitment of a permanent strategic director of change who will lead the council’s improvement work going forward.

Although I welcome this early progress at the council, I share the ministerial envoys’ concerns that wholesale political and staff buy-in and involvement in the council’s improvement journey is not yet in place. This report clearly sets out the ministerial envoys’ expectations for further progress and I expect to see the council’s improvement work being embedded into “business as usual” council practices in the coming months, along with clear evidence that the political and officer leadership are gripping and proactively driving change.

When I met the council and ministerial envoys, I set out that the ministerial envoy model is a new approach to statutory intervention that reflects the Government’s genuine desire to work in partnership with the sector; that the council should treat the ministerial envoys as they would Ministers, and though we hope and expect improvements to be made, if this is not secured the option of escalating intervention to commissioners remained.

I look forward to receiving its progress report later this summer.

Slough

Slough has been in intervention since December 2021, and I extended the intervention in November 2024 for a further two years. I am today publishing the commissioners’ latest report, received in April. It highlights progress in a number of areas, including the appointment of a permanent corporate leadership team, improvements in audit and scrutiny functions.

However, with the intervention three and a half years in, a clearer articulation of the future vision is still required and a substantial transformation programme still needs to be designed and delivered, including a target operating model to evidence that the council can live within its means. It is clear that the council must now accelerate its development and it is vital that officers and members continue to work together to deliver the full range of reforms required to meet the best value duty. I look forward to receiving the commissioners’ update in September.

Conclusion

I am committed to working in partnership with these councils to provide the necessary support to ensure their compliance with the best value duty and the high standards of governance that local residents expect.

I will deposit in the Library of the House copies of the documents referred to, which are being published on gov.uk today. I will update the House in due course.

[HCWS796]